Mass Effect: Aftershock
by ElfLord123
Summary: Commander Shepard is dead...destroyed with the Normandy. With nothing to hold the team together, they say goodbye to old friends...and hello to an old enemy.
1. Ch 1 Waking from a Nightmare

Waking From a Nightmare

The Normandy SR1 silently cruised through space. Its engines would have hummed gently, if there was any air to make noise with. It slowly began to establish an orbit around a nearby planet as it slowed down.

"Disengaging FTL drives," Jeff "Joker" Monroe said. "Emission sinks active. The board is green…we are running silent."

"We're wasting our time," Presley said. The navigator was looking at the readings the ship's scans took, but found nothing. "Four days of searching up and down this sector and we haven't found any geth activity."

"Three ships went missing here in the past month," Joker replied. "Something happened to them."

"My money's on slavers. The Terminus System's crawling with them.

"Picking up something on the long-range scanners," an ensign said. "Unidentified vessel…it looks like a cruiser."

"Doesn't match any known signatures," Joker said, curious about the new spacecraft.

As the Normandy sailed through space, a grotesque cylindrical spaceship appeared behind it. The ship was rigid and had several large, metallic rings around it. The ship began following the Normandy.

"Cruiser is now changing course," the ensign read from the scanners. "Now on intercept trajectory."

"Can't be!" Presley exclaimed as Joker looked at the energy signatures more closely. "Stealth systems are engaged. There's no way a geth ship could-"

"It's not the geth," Joker said darkly. "Brace For Evasive Maneuvers!"

The end of the cylindrical ship began to glow a fierce shade of orange and yellow as its weapons came online. The ship fired a devastating energy beam that tore straight through the Normandy!

The control panel in front of Presley exploded, sending the navigator flying to the ground.

"Presley!" the ensign cried as he jumped to her feet. She fell to the ground as the Normandy shook from another explosion. Sparks flew out of the ceiling and wires as the Normandy was torn about by weapons fire. Explosions rumbled outside the ship as the unidentified vessel continued firing.

"Kinetic Barriers down!" Joker said in panic. The pilot glanced behind him and saw the hallway engulfed in flames. "Multiple hull breaches! Weapons off-line! Somebody get that fire out!" He heard a crash as a flaming piece of debris fell to the floor behind him. The familiar hiss of fire extinguishers could be heard over the explosions outside.

The cylinder continued firing, and the Normandy turned into a massive fireball. The ship was streaked with red scorch marks and was blackened from explosions. Normandy spun out of control as it began to fall apart.

Alarms buzzed throughout the Normandy as the crew desperately ran for the evacuation shuttles. A woman sprinted through the flaming hall, past the bodies of her crewmates. She struggled to get her space suit on while running through the smoke and flames. She could hear the screams of the crew who were caught in the explosions…burned alive. The woman began stumbling as the ship was rocked from another explosion. There was a loud crash as the ceiling began to fall down. She covered her face to shield it from another explosion as she ran up to a man, in a black space suit, at the end of the hall.

"Shepard!" the woman called as Shepard put on his helmet.

"Distress beacon is ready for launch," Shepard said calmly as he turned and faced Ashley, who put her helmet on.

"Will the Alliance get here in time?" Ashley asked worriedly. They both heard an explosion on the deck above them as that deck was completely obliterated. Ashley fell forwards as the explosion rocked the ship. Shepard caught her and looked her through the helmet.

"The Alliance won't abandon us," Shepard said. He grabbed a fire extinguisher at the side and tossed it to Ashley. "We just need to hold on. Get everyone onto the escape shuttles!"

"Joker's still in the cockpit! He won't abandon ship. I'm not leaving either!"

"I need you to get the crew onto the evac-shuttles. I'll take care of Joker." Shepard stumbled to a control panel and began to type in override codes to let emergency doors open so the crew could get to the escape pods.

"Commander!" Ashley protested.

"Ashley, go!" Shepard turned his head and looked at her. "Now." Ashley looked back at Shepard, still reluctant to obey.

"Aye, aye," she finally said. She turned and sprinted down the hall.

Ashley made it to one of the escape shuttles as it was being loaded.

"Everybody in!" she called. "Go, Go, Go!" Several of the crew jumped into the shuttle which was already overloaded. Ashley saw an engineer running towards the shuttle, desperately trying to escape the explosions. This has to be the last one. Once the engineer is in, she will jump in and join the evacuees. A massive explosion suddenly flew down the hall and engulfed the engineer in flames. The engineer's limp body fell to the floor. There was nothing Ashley could do, the engineer was dead. She got into the shuttle and closed the door.

The side of the Normandy opened up, revealing a rack of escape shuttles. One by one they began to eject until only a small handful were left.

Shepard stumbled down the hall through the flames towards the cockpit. He had to get Joker out.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday!" Joker yelled over the radio. "This is SSV Normandy! We've suffered heavy damage from an unknown enemy!" A pipe burst in Shepard's face and steam covered his visor. As the Commander pressed forwards, he began to climb up the flight of stairs that would lead to the cockpit. As the door in front of him opened, the air was suddenly sucked out. The room that led to the cockpit was completely open to the cold of space. Shepard made his way across the room as he watched pieces of the ship float off into space. As Shepard finally reached the cockpit, he could see Joker, in his space suit, still at the controls.

"Come on, Joker!" Shepard said as he reached the pilot. "We have to get out of here!"

"No, I won't abandon the Normandy," Joker said desperately. "I can still save her!"

"The Normandy's lost! Going down with the ship won't change that!" Joker looked at the control panel in despair.

"Yeah…ok. Help me up." Shepard grabbed Joker's arm and dragged him to his feet. The pilot and the Commander could see the enemy ship through the missing ceiling. "They're coming around for another attack!" Shepard dragged Joker to the last escape shuttle. The commander looked behind him and his eyes widened in terror when he saw a massive wall of fire traveling down the hall towards them!

"Commander!" Joker yelled in panic as an explosion threw Shepard off the ground and into space. Shepard watched as he helplessly drifted away from the Normandy. He groaned in annoyance as he floated away, but his groan was not the only noise. There was a faint hissing sound. Shepard suddenly realized that the explosion had damaged his suit; he could see the air leaking out of it. Shepard desperately tried to find a way to stop of the leakage but the air kept escaping. He kept struggling with his helmet, trying to find some way to stop the air.

Joker watched as Shepard began to float out into space…towards the atmosphere of the planet…towards inevitable death.

"SHEPARD!"

_SHEPARD_

Tali bolted up in bed. She looked around her bedroom to make sure she knew where she was. She slowly stood up and looked into the mirror beside her bed. It was a dream…it was a dream. She was not on the Normandy now, she was on the Citadel. But…that did not change what happened. Commander Shepard was dead.

Tali turned towards her bed and froze. How did this happen? Why did it happen? Why? Why? Tali sniffled as she remembered what they went through, how Shepard saved the colonists on Feros, how he fought Saren on Virmire. She remembered his face as he laid his eyes on the Thorian, as he watched Kaiden die on Virmire. After all that they have been through, Shepard died while trying to save the Normandy's crew. Tali fell to her knees; her hands on her helmet, crying.


	2. Ch2 Cold Reality

Cold Reality

Joker sat at a desk in ruined Presidium. The entire Citadel was still being rebuilt since the geth attack. The Presidium was going through its night cycle, and the only source of light was a single table lamp Joker had in front of him. Very few of the population had returned, so the room was empty, leaving Joker alone with his wine. The pilot looked into his glass of wine. He did not know what to think.

"Shepard…" Joker said quietly. The pilot could see the Commander's face in the wine glass.

"_You just had to do, didn't you, Joker?! You just had to stay behind." _

"I'm…I'm sorry."

"_Sorry? I'm dead, Joker! I'm DEAD because of YOU!" _

Joker could not take any more. He picked up the wine glass and took another sip. The elevator door opened and heavy footsteps could be heard walking out. Garrus walked out of the elevator and stopped in front of the desk Joker was sitting at.

"The scout ships came back from the planet you were at," the Turian said.

"And?" Joker asked gloomily.

"No sign of Shepard. Calculations say that he burned up in the planet's atmosphere." Joker simply shook his head. "What did the Council say? What's going to happen to us?"

"We're grounded for now. They're going to give everyone leave because of…because of what happened to Shepard."

"You blame yourself?" Garrus asked.

"It's my fault," Joker muttered.

"There was nothing you could have done."

"You weren't there, Garrus. The only reason Shepard stayed on the Normandy was because I was in the cockpit. I'm the reason he's dead." Garrus became silent. He knew this was true.

"Shepard wouldn't want us to mourn for him. He'd want us to find out who attacked us."

"Yeah," Joker said. "I guess you're right."

"Where is everyone?"

"Tali's in her room. I don't know how she is. She was crying for two hours before she fell asleep."

"And, Liara?"

"She and Ashley are trying to find a ship to lead another search team. I don't know if they're having any luck though."

"What about Wrex?" Garrus asked.

"I don't know where he is. The guy left an hour after he heard what happened." Garrus stood up and made his way to the elevator. "Where are you going?"

"To talk to the Council," Garrus said. "Something needs to be done."

"The Council hasn't come back yet."

"No, but I can still speak to them through the hologram in Ambassador's office. Even if Shepard's gone, we need to continue our search for the Reapers. That's what he would have wanted." Garrus got in the elevator and headed for the Ambassador's office, leaving Joker at the desk. The pilot looked down at his wine glass and saw Shepard's face in it.

"I'm sorry, Commander," Joker said quietly.

Garrus walked down the abandoned halls of the Citadel. After seeing the space station so empty when it was once a center for commerce, it felt very lonely. There were only a handful of people, who were all busy repairing the Citadel. C-Sec had guards in some of the major areas, including the door that led to the Ambassador's office. The aftermath of any disaster would leave the area vulnerable for looters and other criminals, so the security seemed very paranoid, especially to Wrex, who was trying to get into the Ambassador's office.

"I demand that you let me speak to the Council!" the Krogan growled.

"I'm afraid that without clearance, I can't let you in," the C-Sec officer said.

"I don't have time for this," Wrex said, taking a step forward.

"Sir, we're going to need to know who you are first."

"I'm the one who's going to shoot in the face if you don't move."

"Everyone, stand down," Garrus said, walking up towards the two officers. He handed them his ID and said, "The Krogan's with me." The two C-Sec officers exchanged glances. The ID was genuine, but Garrus was now a former C-Sec officer. The Turian had handed in his resignation the day before. Nonetheless, this was a former C-Sec officer that was trying to gain access. They handed his ID back and let the two guests proceed.

"Idiots," Wrex muttered.

"You can't exactly blame them," Garrus said.

"It might not be their fault they have crap for brains, but they still have crap for brains."

"If rules are not strictly enforced, then there would be no reason for people not to break them. They were simply doing their jobs."

"I thought you hated C-Sec regulations."

"I hate it when the regulations get in the way of taking a dirt bag down. If there is someone threatening the public, we should be able to take him down by any means necessary."

As they walked into the Ambassador's office, Garrus began typing on the control panel. Usually the hologram would project the Council members while they were in the Council chambers, but the damage to the Citadel had forced the Counselors from the Citadel. Instead, the hologram received on the Citadel would be broadcast from an orbiting ship. There was a click and the hologram Turian, Asari, and Salarian Council members appeared.

"Agent Vakarian," the Asari Councilor said. "We have received word of what has happened and the Council sends their sincere condolences."

"Condolences aren't going to bring Shepard back," Wrex snapped.

"Wrex," Garrus said. He could not let Wrex ruin this.

"We are aware that Shepard meant a lot to you," the Salarian Councilor said. "And, because of that, we are giving you and his crew permission for temporary leave from active duty, pending Shepard's funeral."

"We appreciate that, but I am here for a different matter."

"And, that is?" the Turian Councilor asked.

"I am aware that all attempts to search for the Reaper fleet have stopped. Why?"

"The Council does not believe it to be necessary to search for what is not there. There Reapers are nothing but a Prothean myth."

"You saw his ship! You saw what it was capable of!"

"That ship "Sovereign" was nothing more than an advanced geth ship. This Reaper story showed how fragile Shepard's mind was. I expected this come from someone else, like that Quarian, not another Turian." Garrus's face darkened and he growled fiercely when he heard his friend's name insulted like that.

"Gentlemen," the Asari said. "The loss of Shepard has been hard on all of us. I believe a temporary leave from active duty is what will be the best thing for the crew."

"My friend is dead, and you refuse to do the one thing he died trying to accomplish."

"You must understand. The council cannot make a decision without further evidence. I am sorry, but there is nothing we can do. You and the crew of the Normandy are hereby given temporary leave from active duty pending Shepard's memorial service. This meeting is adjourned." There was a click and the hologram was turned off.

"Remind me why Shepard saved those morons again," Wrex said as the two of them left.

"You and Ashley were both there when he made the decision. As much as I hate it, we don't have any choice but to obey. Come on."

The Destiny Ascension, flagship of the Citadel fleet, in all its glory was still undergoing repair, and its victory cruise around the Citadel. The Citadel fleet was still in orbit around the enormous space station, ready to fight off anything that dares to attack. But, any fleet, even the Citadel fleet, had weaknesses. A single small frigate was slowly drifting through the region. As long as the black, V-shaped frigate does not approach too close, the fleet will ignore it. The frigate's cockpit sat in between the ship's wings, facing out between them.

On the ship, a single human strolled through the halls of the ship, his face as stern as stone. He took long, eerie strides down the long, dark hallway. The hallway led to a small briefing room, where a Krogan, and a Drell stood waiting. The entire room was empty, except for the four men.

"I've completed the scan of the area," the human said. "There is only debris left."

"Then, we must assume they have failed," the Drell croaked hoarsely.

"This was not unexpected," the Krogan said. "We've planned on this for a long time." The three men nodded.

"Then we shall begin," the human said, smiling. "Gather the squad; we must not fail our master."

"Human," the Korgan growled. "Take the Malevolence through the Mass Relay into the Terminus System. That is where the squad awaits. I shall remain behind and gather what is needed. See if you can hire Bane, he will gather the resources we need."

"I shall use the cargo ship to pick up our resources when he calls," the Drell said.

"Then, we are at an agreement," the Krogan chuckled, looking around the room. "Let's begin."


	3. Ch3 The Citadel

The Citadel

Ashley finally caught up with Liara after scouring the Citadel, hoping to find a captain who would be willing to continue the search for Shepard.

"Any luck?" Ashley asked the Asari.

"None," Liara said sadly. "Everyone appears to believe that Shepard is gone. Has there been any word from the search teams?"

"They say they can't find him."

"Perhaps he actually is…"

"No," Ashley said firmly. "He's not dead…he can't be." She remembered everything she and Shepard have through, everything they fought. It could not end like this. Ashley did not know what to think. She should have stayed on the ship. If she stayed on the ship she would have died with Shepard. No matter how much Ashley told herself that there was nothing she could have done, she still felt guilty. It should have been her on the Normandy and Shepard in the shuttle, not the other way around.

"What will happen to us?" Liara asked. Without Shepard, there was no reason for the team to stay together. They had to move on, but to where?

"I don't know," Ashley said. Liara lifted her hand and seemed to point at a small box at the side. The box shimmered with dark energy from the Asari's biotics. The box scraped across the ground as Liara tried to move the box with her mind. After straining for a minute, and moving the box less than a foot, Liara finally gave up and put the box down.

"What's wrong?" Ashley asked. "You alright?"

"I don't know," Liara said. "Recently, I've seemed to have lost control of my biotics. I've been unable to even accomplish the small tasks."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I've been unable to concentrate. My thoughts are scattered."

"On Shepard?"

"Yes. I do not believe he is gone. No body has been found. Perhaps he found an escape pod…" Ashley shook her head sadly.

"I wish I could believe that," she said.

"I don't believe it," Liara said firmly. "Not until I see a body."

"I hope you're right," Ashley said. "We better get out of here."

Garrus leaned back on a pile of debris that was in front of what used to be a firing range. He looked at the target down range. Sharpshooting has always been Garrus's hobby, and it was a good way to pass the time. With what has been happening, Garrus needed to take his mind of Shepard.

Garrus cocked his handgun and looked down range. A single, empty can sat on the demolished pedestal down range. The can was only about an inch wide in diameter, and was over thirty feet down range. This would usually be a challenge for the average C-Sec officer, but Garrus was not an average C-Sec officer. The Turian took aim at the small can, lining it up with his barrel. This should be easy for Garrus. This was not the first time he had to shoot at a small target and has had worse situations. He remembered when he once had to shoot a thug in the head in wards of the Citadel. The thug had a doctor hostage so Garrus had less than a second to take the shot. If he had been even an inch off, he would have hit the doctor instead. The Turian remembered the incident, how he whipped around the corner, took aim, pulled the trigger, and sent a round straight in the thug's head as Shepard distracted the thug.

Shepard…

The commander's face flashed in Garrus's head. As Garrus pulled the trigger, the familiar bang of his gun echoed the room, but a sound was missing, the familiar clank of the bullet hitting the target. Garrus looked up from his handgun and saw that the can was still on the podium. He had missed. With a sigh, the Turian just fell back and sat on the ground. He stood back up when he heard yelling down the hall. He looked into the market square of the wards.

Because most of the fighting with Sovereign took place right above the Citadel tower and the Presidium, those two locations had taken the most damage. The damage to the wards was not as serious and several sections were already running as a commercial center.

Tali suddenly stumbled out of the store. Garrus watched as the store manager stormed back inside the store after shoving Tali out. Tali sadly looked back at the store.

"TalI?" Garrus asked, walking up to the young girl. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Tali said, sitting down on a bench. Garrus sat down beside her.

"What are you doing?" Garrus asked.

"Looking for a job," Tali sighed. "I've completed my pilgrimage. Shepard, he…he said that he would take me back to the Migrant Fleet. He said he would take me back once he completed the mission. I need money to pay for transport back to the Flotilla, but everywhere I go, there are "Not Hiring Quarians" signs."

"You'll find something."

"No, I won't, Garrus," Tali said in despair. "I just have to admit it; I'll never see the Migrant Fleet again." Garrus put his arms around the young girl. Tal leaned on Garrus, remembering their old friend. "I miss him…I miss him so much."

"I know," Garrus said. "We both do."

Though the Citadel was still damaged, some areas of the giant space station were coming back online. Many civilians were now returning to the living quarters, if that area has been repaired. In one of the living quarters a Quarian sat in a dark room, looking at a holographic screen. His dark brown and grey suit seemed to glisten in the dim light from the screen. A large brown trench coat was worn on his dark suit. It was unusual for a Quarian to wear anything on top of their environmental suits, since it already acted as clothing. Most Quarians were engineers, working on spaceships and space stations. Others were soldiers, fighting on the front lines of the battlefields. In either case, neither type had anything to hide. This Quarian, however, had everything to hide.

"I'm done," a voice said behind the Quarian. He turned around and saw a plump Volus standing behind him. The Volus's suit made annoying hisses as the mole-like creature tried to breathe.

"Have they agreed to all the terms?" the Quarian asked. His deep, hollow voice gave the Volus chills down his spine.

"Yes," the Volus replied. "They said they'll send someone over to discuss the price. He should be here any moment."

"Good," the Quarian said to himself. The offer his contractor made was good, too good. Why would any contractor make such an offer? He was still thinking to himself when he heard a knock at the door. "Get the door," the Quarian told the Volus.

"I'm not your slave!" the Volus protested.

"You are what I say you are. Now, get the door." It was impossible to see the Quarian's expression because of their suits, and it was hard to tell how this Quarian was feeling by his tone of voice, but the Volus knew that he better do what he was told if he wanted to live. Muttering, the Volus opened the door. He jumped back in surprise when he saw a hulking Krogan standing outside, the same one from the Malevolence.

"Who are you?" the Krogan growled.

"Snu-Cal," the Volus said. "Who are you?" The Krogan did not even answer; he just shoved Snu-Cal aside and stormed into the room. The Volus muttered under his breath as he watched the Krogan walk into the room. This must have been who the contractor sent over.

"Bane, I assume," the Krogan said to the Quarian. "Did you get my message?"

"Indeed I did, Gore," Bane replied, still staring at the screen.

"Do we have a deal?" Gore asked. Bane turned and faced the Krogan.

"Kidnapping? It seems like something for the small-time bounty hunters. The price you are offering is especially strange."

"We need to have some resources gathered, but we really need you for something else."

"I'm listening," Bane hissed.

"Once the resources are gathered, my crew will be conducting an operation. We need you to provide a distraction…by taking members of the Council hostage." Bane scoffed when he heard this and stood up.

"One of the councilors is on the Citadel, completely off limits virtually everyone until construction is completed. The other three councilors and their advisors are currently on the Destiny Ascension, an Asari dreadnought, surrounded by the Citadel fleet, off-limits to virtually all ships, guarded by dozens of bodyguards. No one has ever gotten close to any of the councilors or their advisors. Just kidnapping an advisor is impossible."

"Hopefully, you're as good as your reputation says."

"I've gathered a team, like you advised. This will help keep the situation under my control. However, with an operation this dangerous, I want triple your current offer," Bane said. The Krogan growled when he heard this and stared into the bounty hunter's helmet, and Bane stared back. Though Bane's eyes were hard to see, Gore felt them staring straight through him. Suddenly, the Krogan felt incredibly small and weak compared to the Quarian bounty hunter.

"Fine," Gore finally said. "Just get the job done." The Krogan turned to leave the room.

"I better receive my pay," Bane warned. "I don't work for free." Gore chuckled when he heard this. He took out a small data pad and typed something in it. Bane's Omni-tool lit up on his left arm. He watched as his account began to receive a massive number of credits.

"Contact us when you have our resources," Gore said, opening the door.

"It'll be done."


	4. Ch4 Hero's Bane

Hero's Bane

C-Sec usually controls security on the Citadel, but, with all the destruction, C-Sec is not able to cover every corner. This gave criminals the opportunity to create illegal fight clubs. Bidders and the victors of the fights are able to earn a substantial amount of credits…credits Wrex could use. The Krogan stood on an elevated platform, wrestling with another Krogan. The two opponents continued shoving each other, hoping to force another to the ground. Seeing this shoving match was a near stalemate, Wrex elbowed the other Krogan's head, forcing his opponents to the ground. Wrex forced his opponent back up and slammed his fist into the other Krogan's face. Before Wrex's opponent could hit the ground, the battlemaster slammed the other Krogan's face into his knee! Wrex dragged the other Krogan back up and began pummeling his opponent mercilessly.

Ten minutes later, Wrex was leaving the arena after receiving a nice amount of credits.

"Hey!" a voice called. Wrex turned around and saw the Salarian sponsor of the fight club walk up to him. "What was that?"

"What?" Wrex asked flatly. "I came in and fought the guy."

"Fought the guy? You nearly killed him!"

"He won't be the only one I nearly killed if you don't get out of my face," Wrex growled. The Salarian took a step back as Wrex loomed over him.

"Get out of here," the Salarian snapped. "And, don't come back." The sponsor turned and stormed off.

Garrus fell into the chair at his desk in exhaustion. He remembered his argument with the Council yesterday, trying to find some way to convince them to continue the search for the Reapers. Shepard would know how to convince them…if he was here. Garrus should not have taken the time to resign from C-Sec; he should have been on the Normandy. If he was on the Normandy, Shepard might still be alive.

Garrus could not keep thinking about how he could have changed what happened on the Normandy, but he could not stop. He picked up a data pad and began reading the latest C-Sec cases. It was the only way he could stop thinking about Shepard.

In the past two days, a number of people, from all species, have been disappearing: Human, Asari, Turian, and Krogan on the Citadel were vanishing. Rumors even said that the Vorcha on Omega were disappearing. Every time someone disappeared, a Quarian was seen stalking them. Though the Vorcha were out of C-Sec jurisdiction, the other missing people were not. Who was this Quarian? Tali would probably know, but he did not want to trouble the young girl with some stupid C-Sec case.

Garrus looked up when he heard arguing down the hall. The Turian got up and made his way to the hall where he could hear the argument. From the corner of the hall, Garrus could see a young Turian arguing with a pair of Krogan. One of the Krogan shoved the Turian back. The Turian stumbled back to his feet and threw his fists up, ready to fight. The two Krogan simply laughed when they saw the Turian try to fight back. Garrus could tell this would probably get ugly. He could just simply yell for the Krogan to back off, but, even through civilians are not allowed to have guns on the Citadel, an unarmed Krogan was unlikely.

"Hey!" Garrus yelled, drawing his gun and walking up to the three men. "Is there a problem here?" The two Krogan leered at Garrus. Ever since the Genophage, Krogans never liked Turians.

"Just trying to teach this guy a lesson," one of the Krogans said.

"I'm going to have to ask you two to leave."

"Or what?" the Krogan asked fiercely as the two turned and faced Garrus. "In case you didn't notice, there are two of us."

"And, in case _you_ didn't notice, I have a gun," Garrus reminded. The two Krogans exchanged glances.

"Whatever," he said turning and leaving. His friend quietly followed. Once they were gone, Garrus turned to face the other Turian.

"Thanks," the Turian said.

"What are you thinking?!" Garrus exclaimed. "Picking a fight with a Krogan?"

"I didn't start it!" the Turian protested.

"Maybe, but they would definitely would have ended it," Garrus growled. He groaned in annoyance. "What's your name, kid?"

"Lantar…Lantar Sidonis"

"What are you doing here?" Garrus asked.

"I came to see if I could help repair the Citadel."

"If you want to help, see a C-Sec officer."

"Wait a minute, you're Garrus Vakarian."

"Yeah?"

"I thought you were C-Sec."

"I'm retired," Garrus explained.

"Ok," Sidonis said.

"And try not to get into any more trouble," Garrus said, turning and leaving. "Excuse me," Garrus said as he brushed past a Quarian. Garrus plopped back down in his chair and began looking at his data pad again.

Bane strolled down the hall with a smile on his face. This Turian has no idea what is about to happen. Bane watched as Sidonis turned the corner and out of sight. Too easy. Bane turned the corner, expecting to see Sidnois, but instead he saw nothing. He was standing in an empty alley and Sidonis was nowhere to be seen. Bane quietly drew his pistol out of his trench coat as he began to look around.

"Freeze," a voice said behind him. Bane turned around and saw Garrus cock a pistol a few feet from him. "Looks like I caught you this time, bounty hunter." Bane simply chuckled at the sight and realization of what happened. Garrus must have realized who the Quarian he brushed past was and warned Sidonis.

"You're not the Turian I expected to meet," Bane chuckled. Suddenly, with a loud crack, a grappling hook shot out of the top of Bane's wrist and entangled itself on the barrel of Garrus's gun. With a yank, Bane's grappling hook tore the pistol out of Garrus's hands. The Turian immediately jumped behind a pile of boxes at Bane opened fire on Garrus! Garrus began crawling across the ground as debris began to fly across Garrus's head. Garrus recognized the scope-mounted handgun Bane was wielding.

He did not know what it was called, but he did know that it had been banned because it violated at least sixteen weapons treaties.

"Sidonis, Now!" Garrus shouted. Suddenly, Sidonis appeared from behind a corner with a handgun and began firing at the bounty hunter, who fired back. Sidonis must have volunteered to help Garrus to take this bounty hunter down. Sidonis's appearance gave Garrus just enough time to leap out from behind the boxes and grab his handgun. Bane disappeared behind a pile of boxes as soon as he saw Garrus grab his gun. Bane had no time for this, but he was not leaving without the Turian he promised to provide. Garrus looked around the boxes and saw Bane sprinting away!

"Come on!" Garrus yelled to Sidonis they ran after the bounty hunter. Garrus has never seen anyone run so fast. Bane practically flew down the hall as the two Turians tried to keep up. Finally, some hope of stopping this bounty hunter; a Turian C-Sec officer was patrolling the hall in front of them.

"Stop!" Garrus yelled to Bane, loud enough for the officer to hear. Everyone in c-Sec knew Garrus Vakarian and knew that if he was pursuing someone, there was a good reason.

"Freeze!" the C-Sec officer yelled, pointing his handgun at Bane, but it was too late. With a flash of speed, Bane grabbed the gun pointed it at the ceiling just as the officer pulled the trigger. The bullet uselessly hit the ceiling as Bane yanked the gun out of the C-Sec's officer's hands and threw the Turian into Garrus. As Garrus and the other officer fell to the ground, Bane shot his grappling hook, entangled it on Sidonis's gun, and yanked it out of his hands. Garrus leapt to his feet, hoping to get a clear shot at Bane, but, as soon as Garrus got to his feet, Bane kicked the gun out of Garrus's hand and kicked him to the ground. The other C-Sec officer got to his feet, but Bane slammed the handle of his handgun into the officer's head, knocking him unconscious. Bane spotted an elevator a few feet from where he was and dragged the C-Sec officer into it and stepped in. Garrus jumped back up, grabbed his gun, and pointed it at Bane, but the bounty hunter now held the unconscious C-Sec officer in front of him, like a shield, and had his gun to the officer's head. There was still a target, Bane's head.

"I would not try it, if I were you," Bane warned. Garrus had a shot at a small portion of Bane's head. He had the shot, he could take it, but he did not. What if he hit the officer? Garrus felt the gun slowly shake in his hand as he tried to line it up with his target. It was too risky. Garrus was unable to hit a target on the firing range. He cannot hit the bounty hunter without hitting the C-Sec officer.

"Wise choice," Bane said in his hollow voice. "Agent Vakarian, I bid you and your friend a most respectful farewell." Garrus furiously watched the bounty hunter escape as the doors to the elevator hissed closed.

"You alright, kid?" Garrus asked Sidonis.

"Yeah," Sidonis replied. "I'm fine."


	5. Ch5 Reconstruction

Reconstruction

Wrex stormed down a hall, grumbling and muttering. That idiot should not have provoked him.

"Wrex!" a voice called. Wrex turned around and saw Liara running down the hall behind him. "Wrex, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Wrex grumbled, not stopping. Liara stepped in front of him and cut him off.

"You cannot afford getting into these fights," she said.

"The moron wouldn't get out of my way!"

"That didn't mean you had to throw him out a window," Liara said. Wrex grumbled for a moment and looked up.

"I know," he finally said. "I lost my temper on him. I shouldn't have fought him. It's not what Shepard would have wanted."

Anderson stood on a balcony, staring out over the ruined Presidium. He looked behind him and saw Garrus get off the elevator, followed by Ashley.

"Chief Williams, Agent Vakarian," Anderson greeted warmly.

"Captain Anderson," Ashley said, smiling.

"It's Councilor now. I'm glad to see you both are alright." Anderson's face suddenly became solemn. "I'm sorry about what happened."

"You said the Council wanted to see us?" Ashley asked. After all that has happened, she did not want to talk about Shepard.

"Garrus in particular," Anderson said. "They want to talk about the bounty hunter you ran into." Ashley looked at Garrus, expecting an explanation.

"Bounty Hunter?" Ashley asked.

"You never told anyone?"

"No," Garrus said. "I know that particular bounty hunter." Garrus walked to the edge of the balcony. "They call him Bane. No one knows his real name. He's a big-time bounty hunter, and is wanted for some of the most serious crimes ever committed."

"Why does the Council want to talk to you about it?" Ashley asked.

"Bane is one of the top three most wanted criminals known. It's what he can do that makes him so wanted. The contractors who hire him hire him in particular because they know he is the only one who can get it done. It makes me wonder, though. What is he up to?"

"What do you mean?" Anderson asked.

"Bane was trying to kidnap a Turian when he ran into him. I've been looking at recent C-Sec reports. I think it was Bane who's been doing the kidnapping."

"But, you said he was a big-time bounty hunter," Ashley said. "Then, why would they hire him to simply do kidnappings?"

"I don't know, but if he took a job, there's something big."

"What can Bane do?" Anderson asked.

"Well, a year ago, Bane was hired to kill an Asari ambassador. The Council sent a Spectre to stop him. Bane took both the ambassador and the Spectre hostage. Another Spectre was sent to both stop Bane and free his hostages. Those two Spectres were the best, and Bane somehow killed both of them and the ambassador."

"So, who hired him?"

"And why?" Ashley added. There was a beeping and the hologram of the three Councilors appeared.

"Looks like they're ready," Anderson said. Garrus walked over to the three Councilors.

The doors of the Malevolence slid open, letting Bane to board the ship with his package. As the bounty hunter stepped on the ship, Gore was standing on the side to welcome him.

"You have everything?" Gore asked.

"Yes," Bane said flatly. They looked at the small pile of pods beside them. Bane noticed a specimen tank in another room. "When is this operation you mentioned?" Gore looked at his data pad.

"We have all the materials we need," he said. "You can begin your operations." It was invisible behind his suit, but Bane smiled wickedly.

"With pleasure," he hissed.

Garrus walked back over to Anderson as Ashley went to talk to the Council.

"What are they going to do about Bane?" Anderson asked.

"They're still discussing it," Garrus said. "After what happened to the last two Spectres they sent after him, the Council's taking precautions."

"How's the team holding up?"

"Well, we're not crying ourselves to sleep anymore. But, without Shepard, there's nothing to hold the team together. It looks like we'll soon be going our separate ways."

"What are you going to do now? After what's happened…" Garrus solemnly looked down over the Presidium.

"I don't know," he said after a moment. "I've already resigned from C-Sec. I don't know where to go from here." There was a click and Garrus saw the holograms of the Councilors disappear.

"How did it go?" Anderson asked.

"They still refuse to look for the Reapers," Ashley sighed angrily. "Shepard died so that we would keep looking."

"Can't you do anything, Councilor?" Garrus asked Anderson.

"I can't make a decision without the agreement with the rest of the Council," Anderson said.

"What about Udina?" Ashley asked. "Maybe he can convince the Council."

"We have to make him do that first," Anderson laughed dryly. A hissing noise caught everyone's attention. They watched as the elevator door opened and Joker stumbled through.

"What the-?" Garrus said as he grabbed the pilot before Joker fell to the ground. "That's just great, he's drunk!"

"Come on," Ashley said as she and Garrus took Joker's arms. "Let's get him to the Wards."

"What did you do?" Garrus asked the drunken Joker as they dragged him into the elevator. The pilot's head bobbed stupidly as he slurred random words. "Why do humans get drunk after tragedies?"

The Destiny Ascension continued its victory cruise around the Citadel, but it still needed to know the progress of the reconstruction, not just reports but eyewitnesses. The Council had sent one of their Advisors to check on the progress of reconstruction. The Advisor's ship was at one of the Citadel's ports, getting ready to return to the Destiny Ascension with the Advisor. The Advisor's bodyguards marched in front of the entrance to the ship, ready to fight off anything that attack, almost anything.

"Alert: intruder has breached the perimeter," the PA system boomed.

"Let's go!" the captain of the guards yelled as he and several other security guards gathered outside the ship. They were surprised when they saw a single Quarian in a trench coat slowly walked towards them.

"This is a restricted area," the PA system announced. All trespassers will be tried due process of the law."

"Freeze," the captain of the guards yelled. "Put your hands in the air!" Bane stopped several feet away from the guards.

"I have no business with mere bodyguards," Bane said hollowly. "Why not you just step aside?"

"Put your hands in the air or we will be forced to open fire!" After the Battle of the Citadel, the Councilor's bodyguards and the Advisor's bodyguards have to be on high alert. This did not have any effect on Bane though. He simply chuckled when he heard this.

"You have been warned," Bane hissed ominously. The guard s were wondering what Bane meant when, suddenly, a loud bang echoed the room. The guards all jumped down as a bullet flew past Bane and into one of the guard's head!

"Sniper!" the captain of the guard's cried as he jumped to cover. There was another bang as the sniper shot one of the fleeing guards. "Emergency take-off!" the captain yelled through his radio. "I repeat: emergency take-off! Get the Advisor back to the Destiny Ascension!"

"I don't think so," Bane muttered as his omni-tool appeared on his left arm. He knew that while the ship was docked, the docking bay was attached to the ship. Taking off without removing the docking clamps could tear a chunk of the ship right off.

"We have a no go!" the pilot said over his radio. "The docking clamps will not disengage. We have a no go!" The captain muttered angrily under his breath when he saw an Asari mercenary turn around the corner to his right. There was yelling as a Human pirate appeared to his left. The captain looked up and saw Bane pull out a pair of pistols and began firing. Under fire from all sides, the thirteen bodyguards were easily cut down. Bane knew that all the bodyguards inside the ship will be racing for the entrance of the ship to help the other guards. Being inside the ship, these guards will be easily taken care of. Bane hacked into the ship's computers and smiled. He could hear loud bangs as valves released coolant gases into the hallways. After a moment, Bane closed the valves and the gas slowly disappeared from the halls.

"Check it!" Bane said to the Asari and Human. As they checked the entrance of the ship, Bane waved to the Batarian sniper. The Batarian wore the standard red, thug armor, but wore a grotesque set of goggles that covered all of his eyes.

"It's clear," the Asari said.

"Cyclops, get our cargo onboard!" Bane ordered the Batarian. Cyclops was not the Batarian's name, only a nickname he earned himself. "Sin, check the pilot, make sure he doesn't do anything," Bane told the Asari. "Carmine, secure the ship!" Bane ordered the human. Bane turned around when he heard uneven breathing behind him. He saw Snu-Cal waddle over to him. "Let's get started."

Joker's head bobbed backwards as he snored loudly in the wards. Joker sat at the same desk where he drank the alcohol, the same desk Garrus first saw him at.

"Glad that's over with," Ashley said. The alcohol was beginning to wear off.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Garrus asked.

"We just wait for Joker to wake up. Hopefully he'll be sober since he didn't drink that much."

"That's not what I meant," Garrus corrected. Ashley has been avoiding the question ever since the destruction of the Normandy.

"I don't know," she said. "I'd stay in the Alliance military, but I don't know about you guys."

"Tali needs to get back to the Migrant Fleet, but she doesn't have any money to pay for transportation."

"I thought being part of the crew that stopped Saren and the Geth would help."

"Apparently not. I wonder what Wrex is going to do?"

"I'm surprised you care about Wrex," Ashley chuckled slightly. "Usually the Turians and the Krogans hate each other."

"Strangers become brothers in a foxhole under fire," Garrus said.

"Huh?"

"It's a saying we had at C-Sec. Either way, we've all changed since our fight with Saren. Ashley thought for a moment. It was true, they have changed. Ashley, for example; when everything began, she was reluctant to share any information with Garrus and Wrex. Now, she'll share information with them without any second thought.

"I'm going to miss you guys," Ashley simply said. There was a hiss and the elevator door hissed open.

"Hey, I'm back," Sidonis said flatly as he stepped off the elevator.

"Who's he?" Ashley asked.

"Sidonis," Garrus answered. "He the Turian Bane attacked."

"Why is he following you?" Garrus took a moment to think. To be completely honest with himself, he did not know. He just let Sidonis follow him around.

"A C-Sec officer downstairs wanted me to give this to you," Sidonis said, handing Garrus a data pad.

"What is it?" Ashley asked.

"Some friends back at C-Sec still give me updates on what's happening," Garrus explained. "Looks like a couple crates of mechs are gone." This was not surprising, considering the lack of security tempted looters. As Garrus scrolled down the list, he noticed that there was an audio file. He linked the sound to this headset and listened. Garrus's stiff face suddenly became filled with fear.

"What is it?"

"Get Liara, Tali, and Wrex in here," Garrus said.

"But-"

"Now!"

The Councilor's Advisor's ship cruised back towards the Destiny Ascension. As the small transport ship docked with the massive dreadnought, the docking clamps locked on the ship.

Guards waited at the entrance to the ship, waiting for the doors to open. They were definitely not expecting what happened next. As the doors hissed open, the guards drew their guns. They were stunned to see that the halls were filled with coolant gas. The opening of the door let the coolant gas suddenly flood the area they were in. The guards had helmets, but the gas completely obscured their vision.

"This is the security checkpoint, it looks like we have a coolant leak," one of the guards said. But, he got no response. "Hello?" There was a thud and the guard could just barely see a small ball bounce out of the ship and landed at his feet. He immediately recognized what the ball was, but he only had enough time to say, "Oh, crap." There was a bang, and all the guards at the docking entrance fell down, unconscious. After a moment, all the gas cleared from the halls, revealing Bane and his small strike team.

"This way," Bane said, leading the others down the hall. He quickly checked his omni-tool to make sure the communications were effectively jammed, the cameras were disabled, and the internal sensors were malfunctioning. They were.

"How are we to get to the Council?" Sin asked.

"The ventilation shafts," Cyclops suggested.

"No," Bane said firmly. "All vent shafts have sensors to make sure they are not infiltrated."

"Then, how are we to get in?" Carmine asked impatiently. Bane stopped to turn and face the team.

"The Destiny Ascension suffered heavy damage during the Geth attack. The sewage system had to be shut off to prevent flooding on several decks." Bane led the team into a small private bathroom. Snu-Cal followed everyone in, closed the door, and locked it. The bathroom door knob now read: In Use.

Bane took a moment to put a silencer on his pistol before he aimed and the wall and shot a massive chunk out of it. As the dust cleared they saw that the shot had blown a hole in the wall and a hole in a large sewage pipe. The pipe was as wide as a ventilation shaft, but the sewage system did not have detection systems in it.

"Follow me," Bane said as he crawled into the pipe. The rest of the team followed. They crawled through the pipes for several minutes before they finally reached a hole in the pipe that lead back into the hall. Obviously the hole was created during the battle with the Geth. Bane looked around as he got out.

"Let's go say 'hello' to some Councilors," Bane said.

Garrus, Tali, and Sidonis rushed through the halls of the Citadel.

"I found Tali," Garrus said through his radio.

"This is Liara," Liara said back through the radio. "Ashley's gone to check on Joker. I am still looking for Wrex."

"Not anymore," a voice beside Liara said. She looked up and saw Wrex run up to her. "What's all this about?"

"I don't know," Liara told Wrex. "Garrus wants us for something."

"Everyone, meet back in the wards where Ashley is," Garrus said. Suddenly, red warning lights and buzzers began ringing.

"All C-Sec Personnel are called to headquarters," the PA system boomed. "All off-duty personnel are called back on duty for emergency services. This is not a drill. Repeat: this is not a drill."

"Now what?!" Garrus groaned. "Sidonis, get Tali back. I'm going to see what this is about." Garrus turned around and ran back down the hallway. It figures, Garrus found Tali not too far from the C-Sec headquarters, and now he has to run back there!

"What's going on?!" Garrus asked as he burst through the doors of C-Sec headquarters.

"Agent Vakarian," a nearby officer said. "We've got a problem."

"I know that much," Garrus said in annoyance.

"That bounty hunter Bane, he's taken the Council, several of their advisors and Ambassador Udina hostage." Garrus's jaw dropped when he heard this. He's heard of ambassadors being taken hostage while negotiating with an enemy, but hearing a government official being taken hostage on their own ship, surrounded by the full force of both the Citadel Fleet and the Alliance fleet was unheard of.

"How did this happen?"

"I wish I knew," the officer said, returning to his work station.

"What does C-Sec want me to do?" The officer looked around.

"Umm…we're transferring several on-duty personnel to designated areas. So, you have to wait to receive orders. Off-duty personnel are being assigned over the radio. You can go back to whatever it was you were doing." With nothing to do, Garrus could now go back to his friends and tell them what he found, but his running was not helping his mood. He ran to C-Sec headquarters to find Tali, halfway away from C-Sec headquarters to get Tali to Joker, back to headquarters, merely to find out he did not have to run back. As Garrus sprinted back to the wards, he could not help but wonder, what was Bane up to?

"We're here," Wrex said as he and Liara entered the room, where they saw Ashley, Joker, Tali, and Sidonis. Joker groaned in pain as he grasped his head.

"I feel like I just banged my head off a desk," the pilot groaned.

"Maybe next time you shouldn't drink so much," Ashley laughed.

"It wasn't that much!" Joker protested.

"But, it was enough," Ashley said. Joker groaned again.

"They offered me a ship."

"Who?" Liara asked.

"The Council. They offered me the SRV Odyssey."

"I know of it," Tali said. "It is a new missile frigate the Alliance designed. From what I hear, it will be much like the Normandy in many perspectives including the fact that it has a new MAKO." They team did not react when they heard about the MAKO; they all remembered the bouncy rides they had in it.

"Did you accept?" Liara asked. Joker shook his head.

"It might be LIKE the Normandy, but it's not." Suddenly, Garrus burst through the door, panting.

"What happened to you?" Ashley asked. Garrus simply grumbled as he tried to catch his breath.

"We have a problem," Garrus finally said.

"Is this about the Council?" Joker asked.

"How do you know about the Council?" Joker pointed at a holographic news screen that was broadcasting what was happening. "It's not the only thing." Garrus fell into a chair nearby. Hopefully he will never have to do that much running again. "I got a message from C-Sec earlier."

"I thought you resigned," Tali said.

"Some friends still give me updates. C-Sec just intercepted a transmission from a pirated cruiser." Garrus took out his data pad and played the recording.

"Do we have everything?" a voice asked.

"Indeed," a definite batarian voice answered. "The body is complete, our Master will not settle for anything less than perfect."

"What of the bounty hunter?" The team exchanged glances with each other. They all knew the voices were talking about Bane.

"He has already begun his operations. No one knows what is happening. We have already tracked down the final transport ship. We shall find what we need there."

"Excellent. All of the Citadel's concerns will be focused on the Council. Our Lord Sovereign will reward us when Reapers return." There was a click and the recording stopped playing.

"That's not good," Wrex commented.

**So, this is the second story I have ever written. How am I doing so far? How well did I recreate the Mass Effect characters? What do you think of Bane? You can be truthful.**


	6. Ch6 The Odyssey

The Odyssey

The Malevolence exited FTL and began cruising at a normal speed, right towards a pair of ships. Onboard, Gore stood on the bridge, staring at the ships. He looked behind himself, straight at a large specimen tank, where a hideous, grotesque, humanoid creature lay. The creature was pitch black with shimmering skin. Its two legs were made of three segments. The creature's long, black, arms dangled at the creature's side. Its long, thick, stiff, neck stuck out and ended with a set of flaps. No mouth was visible.

"Detecting two vessels," a Drell ensign said. "The cargo ship is being escorted by a Turian cruiser."

"Let's give them a proper greeting then," Gore said. "Target the escort. Fire all batteries."

The Malevolence was still cruising when it opened fire. Suddenly, a firestorm of lasers fired from the Malevolence. The storm engulfed the Turian cruiser in explosions as the lasers rained on it. Finally, the Malevolence stopped firing. As the cruiser moved forwards, one of the wings drifted off the ship. From the bridge on the Malevolence, Gore watched the ship fall apart. The cargo ship tried to fly away but the Malevolence blasted its engines.

"Prepare the boarding party," Gore ordered.

A hanar worked at a holographic computer at C-Sec headquarters. Its glowing, pink skin seemed to pulse at it worked. It looked up and saw Garrus run into his office.

"Garrus?" the hanar asked. "What are you doing back here?"

"Topa," Garrus said. "That transmission you sent me, was there anything else?"

"What are you talking about?" Topa asked flatly.

"That transmission that you intercepted from a pirate ship, was there anything else?"

"Yes," Topa said plainly. "Before the Council was taken hostage, a C-Sec strike team boarded a nearby pirate ship and took some data from the memory core."

"Do you have a copy?" Garrus asked. The Hanar typed at his consol for a moment.

"All the data taken from the ship is now transmitted to your data pad." Garrus nodded gratefully and was about to leave when he heard a yell.

"They're transmitting," a voice said. Garrus turned around and saw a hologram of Bane appear in the middle of the room. Every officer turned and faced the hologram of the bounty hunter.

"So, here's what you're going to do," Bane said. "It has come to my attention that the bounty hunter Zaeed Massani has been arrested and sent to the prison ship Purgatory. If you care about your Councilors, you will release him into my custody. Do not try to give me an imposter; I will know if that is the real Zaeed Massani immediately. You have thirty minutes to contact Purgatory to make the exchange." With that said, Bane's hologram disappeared. Garrus knew he did not have much time. He rushed out of the room.

The team, with Sidonis, quickly walked down the hall, getting their gear on.

"I got the data," Garrus said as he caught up with everyone else.

"What'd you find?" Ashley asked.

"It's not good. Sovereign's indoctrinated slaves are trying to bring him back."

"We shouldn't have assumed Saren was Sovereign's only slave," Ashley said.

"Sovereign?" Sidonis asked.

"A Reaper that was left behind," Tali explained.

"Reapers?" Sidonis exclaimed. "I thought they were a myth."

"The Council thinks they're a myth," Ashley corrected. Sidonis just stared forwards, unable to believe that all those stories he heard were true.

"How are they supposed to bring the guy back?" Wrex asked. "We blew him away already."

"Actually," Tali said. "There might be one way." They turned and looked at her. "Sovereign is a machine and an AI. All conscious minds, even AI's, need a place to be held in."

"Like a brain?" Ashley asked.

"Or an AI unit," Garrus added.

"If the AI unit is intact, it can be extracted and moved to another body," Tali explained.

"Then, why the kidnappings?" Liara asked.

"According to the data, they're making some kind of super-creature," Garrus said. "They've taken almost a dozen species: Turian, Drell, Salarian, Krogan, Asari, Humans, Quarians, Vorcha, even Rachni."

"I told Shepard he should have wiped out those bugs," Wrex grumbled.

"The data says that they're making some sort of creature by combining the best of their attributes."

"Let me guess," Ashley said. "It'll have all their strengths and none of their weaknesses."

"That's the idea."

"Do you know what this means?" Tali asked excitedly. "If they have a creature that has Quarian DNA but does not need a suit, then this could be the answer to strengthening our immune systems!"

"It might also have a cure for the genophage," Wrex said, smiling.

"It's not worth it," Ashley said. "What do you think they did with those people?" Tali and Wrex fell silent when they heard this question. They knew the answer.

"We can wonder what we are going to do with his body later," Garrus said. "First we have to make sure Sovereign never comes back."

"They are sending all recovered debris from Sovereign's ship to a nearby research station," Liara said. "They lost contact with that very ship a few moments ago."

"And then, he'll e able to bring back the Reapers."

"But he can't access the Citadel without electrical components, like those of Geth," Tali added.

"Well, it's a good thing for them that there are plenty of dead geth that were all over the station," Garrus said sarcastically.

"We have to get to the research station!" Ashley said firmly as they began to sprinting down the hall.

"How are we supposed to get there?" Liara asked.

"The Odyssey," Sidonis said.

"The ship's under lockdown and the Council has been taken hostage. And, even if they weren't, they won't let us fly it if they hear about the Reapers," Garrus said.

"Guess we'll just have to take it," Ashley said.

"What about the Council?" Sidonis asked.

"Shepard should've just let them die during the geth attack," Wrex said. Garrus ignored Wrex's comment.

"I'll take Wrex and Sidonis and deal with Bane," Garrus said.

"I'll get on the Odyssey and stop Sovereign," Ashley said.

"Who's going to override the security?" Sidonis asked.

"The Citadel heavily damaged and security systems are malfunctioning," Tali said. "We should be able to get out." They all looked at each other, the plan was set.

"Let's do this, then," Ashley said.


	7. Ch7 The Malevolence

The Malevolence

A single ship was still docked with the Citadel, a single, triangular, prototype ship. The ship had bent triangular wings that made the ship slightly more fearsome. Suddenly, the ship tore off of the station and began to cruise away from the Citadel.

Garrus, Sidonis, and Wrex just arrived on the Destiny Ascension when they heard a voice yell, "Sir, the SRV Odyssey just took off!" Garrus and Wrex exchanged glances. They cannot let anyone know they were a part of this.

"Garrus!" a voice greeted. The turian looked up and saw Anderson walk towards them.

"Anderson," Garrus said in surprise. "You aren't one of Bane's hostages?"

"I was recalled from the Destiny Ascension at the last moment," Anderson explained. "It was a good thing too. Who's your friend?"

"Sidonis," Garrus introduced. "We're here to see if there's anything we can do to help, being a former C-Sec officer."

"We're preparing an infiltration team while we're setting Zaeed's release from Purgatory." Anderson showed them to the meeting room. Garrus, Wrex, and Sidonis took their places in the crowd as a Turian officer stood in front of the room.

"Men," the officer said strictly. "I am Agent Mindor. I'll be in charge of this operation. You all know the situation. A Quarian bounty hunter that operates under the alias of 'Bane' has gathered a small team and taken the Council, several ambassadors, and the Council's advisors hostage. If we can take them all out, we will not need to release the bounty hunter Zaeed Massani." A holographic map of the Destiny Ascension appeared. "The bounty hunters have only control of a small portion of the ship." A small area of the image began to glow red, indicating the area that the bounty hunters had control of. "We have confirmation that a single Volus has separated from the group and locked himself in the ship's security center. Now, they can monitor every corner of the ship. Rumors say that some Krogan that Bane originally hired have gone rogue somewhere on the ship, but that's not what we need to worry about. After looking at blueprints of the ship, we have plotted the best route of infiltration." On the holographic map, several areas began to glow green. "A main infiltration team can slip through a series of ventilation shafts that will lead to a hangar bay on the port side of the ship. The hangar has a network of transport systems that lead to the Council Chamber on the ship, where they are being held hostage." Garrus knew it was standard procedure to try and sneak a squad to a good vantage point. From there, they could take out the hostage takers without fulfilling the hostage takers' goals. That is assuming the team got close enough without being detected. "A secondary infiltration team can use the main vent shafts that lead into a hall that leads to a room right above the Council Chamber. We hit them hard, we hit them fast! They'll never see this coming."

"You're wrong about that," Garrus said. The entire room turned to face him.

"Excuse me?" Mindor asked.

"If we plotted this route, Bane will probably know about this route as well." The officers and agents in the roof murmured among each other when they head this.

"Even if he did, we have no other way," Mindor said. "Garrus, you and your friends will join me as part of the main infiltration team. I've already chosen the main infiltration team; the rest of you will join the secondary infiltration team and head through the main vent shafts. MOVE OUT!"

Bane was pacing around the large atrium where he held the Council and their advisors hostage.

"Bane," Snu-Cal said over the radio. The Volus had gone to the ship's security center to help monitor the situation. "C-Sec is preparing for an infiltration. They're headed your way." Bane growled angrily when he heard this.

"How long?" he asked.

"ETA: 3 minutes.

"Transmit the location to my omni-tool!" Bane ordered. "Seal all the doors surrounding this room! Hack into the main computer core! Transfer all control to my omni-tool! I want control of doors, service drones, life-support, EVERYTHING!" Bane turned and faced Cyclops. "Take the mechs and intercept the team using the ventilation shaft."

"We're better off here," Cyclops argued.

"We must stop the infiltration teams before they get too close. DO AS I SAY!" Cyclops glared at Bane, and Bane glared back. The Batarian did not want to know what Bane would do if he did not follow Bane's orders.

"Fine," Cyclops growled.

Ashley stood on the bridge with Tali and Liara as Joker piloted the ship through FTL. Ashley wore her pink armor while Liara wore the green one she always wore.

"You know, even if we do stop Sovereign, C-Sec will still arrest us for stealing a ship," Liara said. "And without evidence of Sovereign's existence we will not be able to convince them to release us."

"We have no other choice," Tali said.

"When are we going to get there?" Ashley asked impatiently.

"The cargo ship that was carrying Sovereign's debris traveled along this course," Joker said. "We'll be arriving…now." As soon as he said that, the Odyssey exited FTL. The three women looked out the window into the darkness of space. They all stared at a field of debris floating through space.

"We're too late," Tali gasped. The debris field was made from the debris of the cargo ship and its escort.

"We're picking up another ship," Joker said anxiously. "It's the Malevolence."

On board the Malevolence, Gore quickly walked through the ship. He had to tell his master what just happened. He walked into a small chamber where a dark, cloaked, hooded figure sat upon a throne. It was the super-creature that was made. The creature now had a large hood that covered most of its neck and hung out in front of the flaps on the end of its neck.

"My lord," Gore said. The super-creature turned to face Gore. As its neck turned, a set of menacing jaws slowly extended from the flaps on the end of its neck.

"Speak," the creature said in a dark, hollow, demonic, voice that seemed to echo in a menacingly. When Gore helped create the body, he never imagined what its voice would sound like. The body had the voice of a thousand demons.

"We have detected the Alliance ship Odyssey exiting FTL," Gore explained. "The ship was given to Jeff Monroe. If the pilot is onboard, we can presume that his team is." Hearing this new information, the creature rose to its feet. His cloak dangled on the ground. There was a click and a holographic screen appeared in front of the creature. On the screen showed the image of the Odyssey taken from the ship's sensors. "Should we continue on our course to the Citadel, or break off to attack?" The creature took a moment to think.

"Break off course, arm all batteries, and open fire on the Odyssey," the creature finally said.

"Yes…my Lord, Sovereign," Gore replied, bowing before his master. The Krogan turned and left the room, leaving Sovereign, in his new body, staring at the screen. Seeing this, only one thing came to mind.

"Revenge is MINE!" Sovereign growled through his gritted fangs.

Mindor and his squad snuck through the halls of the Destiny Ascension. The squad was larger than usual, made of twenty seven squad members, including Garrus, Wrex, and Sidonis. The halls were pitch black after Bane, for some reason, pulled the power in the corridors.

"This is stupid," Garrus muttered as he snuck through the halls.

"It's our only option," Mindor repeated.

"Well, it's a stupid option. He'll see us long before-"

"Quiet," Mindor said. "Do you hear that?" The infiltration squad quieted down. The ship was silent, but they could just barely hear a faint tapping noise. Mindor shone his light in front of him, and saw a figure spring down the hall.

"There!" Mindor shouted. The entire squad charged after the figure, who led them down the corridor. As the squad turned the corner, they saw the figure close a door right behind him. If this was some sort of sentry they could not let him warn Bane. The squad burst through the door, and stopped dead in its tracks. They had followed their plan precisely and were now in the hangar they already spoke about. The only problem was, in the hangar was an entire army of mechs. The white, humanoid mechs all had weapons drawn and pointed at the squad. Outnumbered and outgunned, everyone considered retreating, but the door slammed shut behind them. Bane emerged from the crowd and stopped right in front of his army.

"Hello again, Garrus," Bane chuckled. "I've been expecting you." Garrus looked at Wrex, almost hoping the he had an answer, but the Krogan was just as stunned by the sight. It's a trap. Bane had led all of them into his trap.

"KILL THEM!" Bane roared. All of a sudden, all the mechs in the room began firing. The hangar was consumed in chaos as the squad of C-Sec officers returned fire. Sidonis pointed his pistol at Bane, but Bane drew his two pistols faster.

"Look out, kid!" Garrus yelled, shoving Sidonis behind a pile of boxes. Garrus took a quick shot at a mech, then turned and faced Sidonis.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Garrus snapped.

"This won't end unless we kill Bane!" Sidonis argued.

"You won't kill Bane if he kills you first!"

Bane maneuvered through the battlefield, shooting every C-Sec officer in his path.

"Let's make this battle a bit more interesting," Bane said, typing something into his omni-tool. There was a whirring noise as the crane system came online. The crane system began to take out large crates and dropped them on the C-Sec officers! Bane smiled as he watched the officers panic. Everything was going exactly as planned.

The Malevolence flew straight at the Odyssey. Sovereign stood on the bridge, staring at the ship.

"We're in firing range," Gore said, looking at the sensors. Sovereign looked at his indoctrinated slave wickedly.

"Fire," Sovereign said.

On the Odyssey, Joker looked at his sensors.

"We're now in firing range," Joker said.

"Open fire!" Ashley yelled.

The two ships began firing at each other. The Malevolence unleashed a firestorm of lasers on the Odyssey as the Odyssey rained missiles on the Malevolence. Both ships were engulfed in flames from the explosions.

The Odyssey shook violently from the explosions.

"We're losing life-support on several decks!" Joker said in panic. "Kinetic barriers at fifty-two percent! Multiple hull breaches!" Another explosion sent pieces of the ceiling crashing to the floor! "Somebody get that fire out!" Liara grabbed an extinguisher and began dousing the flames. "I'm transferring all power to combat essential systems!" The lights in the ship flickered as the power was transferred.

The Malevolence rocked slightly as they were hailed with rockets and missiles.

"Kinetic barriers are at seventy-eight percent!" Gore said. "They have disabled their engines and rerouted that power into weapons and shields."

Everyone on the Odyssey nearly fell over when a jerk rocked the ship.

"What was that?" Ashley yelled. Joker quickly looked at his scanners.

"The force of their weapons fire is pushing us into the debris field!" Joker yelled. "It's draining out kinetic barriers!" Tali ducked as the control panel behind her exploded in a shower of sparks.

"Can you get us out of here?" Ashley yelled over the explosions. Joker kept looking at his readings.

"We already used too much power! We can either keep firing or move!" Ashley took a moment to think, then, she had an idea.

"Activate the engines!" Ashley said. "Everyone else, to the MAKO!"

"The MAKO?" Joker yelled in surprise. "What are you going to do?" But, everyone had already left.

Gore looked at his control panel, then looked at Sovereign.

"The Odyssey is abandoning its position!"

Wrex ducked behind another crate as another volley of bullets flew over him. He heard screaming as another crate fell on another C-Sec officer. Wrex jumped back out to take another shot at the mechs.

Bane walked out from behind a stack of crates and took another shot. Mindor saw that the bounty hunter was now exposed. The officer aimed his assault rifle at Bane. This single shot could end all of this. Mindor was about to pull the trigger when Bane turned and faced the officer. The bounty hunter pointed his pistol at the officer and pulled the trigger. The bang was lost in the chaos but the bullet hit Mindor straight in the chest. The commanding officer fell to his knees, grasping the wound in pain. As Mindor fell to the ground, he saw Garrus rush over.

"Sir," Garrus said.

"Looks like I won't be seeing the end of this like I hoped to," Mindor gasped. "Get him for me!"

"What about you?" Garrus asked.

"I'll be fine," Mindor said persistently. "Go!"

The second infiltration team moved quickly through the halls.

"We're nearly in position," one of the officers said over the radio. They turned around the corner and, suddenly, the hall was filled with the sounds of gunfire. The hallway leads to large room which had a winding staircase that lead to a floor above. On the staircase, Cyclops rained bullets with an automatic machine gun along with a small team of mechs. The entire squad jumped back behind the corner as the bullets hailed on the squad.

"This is the second infiltration team!" the officer yelled over the radio. "We've met heavy resistance! We have no choice but to fall back!" Cyclops cackled psychotically as he fired a massive wave of bullets from his machine gun.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Joker asked Ashley through the radio.

"It has to," Ashley said from inside the MAKO. The Odyssey flew straight at the Malevolence.

"My lord," Gore said on the bridge of the Malevolence. "The Odyssey is coming for a second attack."

"Destroy it!" Sovereign growled fiercely.

There was a pop, and the Odyssey launched the MAKO towards the Malevolence. Joker veered the Odyssey off course so that the small tank could reach the ship. He watched as the MAKO rammed flew into the Malevolence. Joker almost chuckled when he saw this, wondering what Shepard would say if he were here.

"Sorry that we had to trash the MAKO , Commander," Joker said.

"_It's okay. I never like the darn thing anyways."_

The Malevolence rocked as the MAKO rammed into the ship.

"We have a hull breach," Gore said. "Sensors say that we have been boarded." Sovereign snarled angrily when he heard this. He turned and left the room.

"Stay here and defend the bridge," Sovereign growled as he left. "I have things to take care of."

"My lord," Gore protested. "They have already defeated you before…" Sovereign stopped when he heard this phrase.

"You doubt me?" he asked ominously.

"Of course not!" Gore quickly answered. "I am only saying it for your sake."

"Do not concern yourself for my sake. I shall deal with this myself." With that said, Sovereign disappeared down the hall.

Bane gunned down another C-Sec officer when he radio came on.

"Package has arrived," Sin said over the radio.

"Have Carmine pick up the package," Bane said. "Make sure that C-Sec knows that we are still in control." Now that his package has arrived, Bane has no reason to stay and keep fighting. He turned and ran through the doors behind him. Garrus watched as the bounty hunter sprinted down those halls, and he did not intend to let Bane get away. Ignoring the mechs and the bullets, Garrus jumped out from his cover and ran after Bane.

"Garrus!" Sidonis yelled as he tried to follow the former C-Sec officer. Wrex grumbled when he saw what was happening, but he got up and ran after the two Turians.

Bane was nearly where he needed to be when he noticed Garrus and Sidonis chasing after him. Bane's omni-tool appeared and he quickly typed a command in. There was a hissing noise as the doors closed behind Garrus and Sidonis, and right in front of Wrex. The krogan came to a halt right in front of the closed doors. Seeing that there was no way through, cocking his shotgun, Wrex ran down another hall.

Bane took a glance behind him and saw that only Garrus and Sidonis were still in pursuit. The two Turians drew their guns, but Bane suddenly whipped out a small orb that unleashed a cloud of gas as it hit the ground.

Gore quietly worked at his control panel, chasing after the Odyssey, when, suddenly, Liara jumped out from behind the corner and shoved them all back with a biotic blast. Everyone on the bridge drew their guns, but Ashley and Tali both jumped into the room from the other side and began shooting. It was a short gun fight. Attacked from both sides, Sovereign's indoctrinated slaves all easily fell. The three women cautiously entered the bridge. Seeing that everyone was dead, Tali got to the control panel.

"Joker," she said over the radio. "We've taken the Malevolence. It's over." Joker breathed a sigh of relief.

"Copy that," he said. "There a science station not too far from here, we can make it without using FTL. I suggest we stop there to make some repairs. I'm sending you the coordinates." Tali looked at the monitor.

"I've got the coordinates. See you there." Ashley quickly counted the bodies on the bridge.

"Seven bodies," she said. "Topa said that there should only be seven left."

"And we've taken out the last seven," Tali said. "I'm glad it was this easy."

"Too easy," Liara commented. "These indoctrinated slaves have caused us trouble and anticipated our every move. Why did they all remain on the bridge, waiting for us?"

"I don't know," Ashley shrugged. "It's almost like they were ordered to stay here."

"By who?"

"Keelah!" Tali gasped fearfully. Liara and Ashley turned around and saw what Tali was looking at. Coming down the hall was a single humanoid creature with shimmering black skin, wearing a dark hooded cloak slowly strolled down the hall.

"Who are you?" Ashley asked threateningly as the figure continued to walk towards them. What was happening? There should have only been seven, who is the eighth?

"You are still ignorant," the creature said hollowly. "You are still incapable of comprehension." Tali felt her jaw drop in horror when she heard these words.

"_You've touched my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of comprehension."_

Only she and Garrus were there to hear these words, so she knew what it meant.

"Impossible," she breathed. "Sovereign." There was a loud whoosh and a massive biotic wave threw Ashley, Liara, and Tali into the wall, and they fell to the ground. In his new body, Sovereign's abilities are unmatched. Ashley desperately crawled to pick her rifle back up. Just as Williams reached her rifle, a heavy foot stepped on her back and pressed her into the floor. She felt the air pressed out of her as she was pushed into the floor. Tali got to her feet and drew her pistol. The room echoed as she fired three shots. She was almost sure she scored hits. She looked up and noticed three small metallic objects being held in the air by Sovereign's biotics. Sovereign had used his biotic abilities to catch the bullets in midair. The bullets fell to the ground with quiet clinks. Tali immediately aimed her gun again, but Sovereign threw her back with another biotic shockwave. Suddenly, Sovereign flew back into the wall as Liara blasted the Reaper with an orb of biotic energy. Such a blast would have killed a normal creature, but Sovereign was not normal. He was stronger, faster, smarter that anything else.

"We're coming up on the science station," Joker said over his radio. "Is there anyone there?" Sovereign looked out the window and saw the massive cylindrical station. The Reaper moved for the controls, ready to retake control of the ship. Before he could reach the control panel, it exploded in his face! He whipped around and saw that Tali had grabbed her pistol and shot the panel. His patience for these insolent creatures has come to an end.

"Run," Ashley breathed. "RUN!" The three women jumped to their feet and sprinted down the hall. Sovereign quickly chased after them, his superior legs making him run faster with less effort and energy.

Bane burst through the door of the large room where he held the Council hostage.

"We've got to go," he said calmly.

"Carmine says he's picked up the package," Sin said.

"Then it is time to go," Bane hissed. "Infiltration teams will be soon storming this position and I would like to be gone when that happens."

"How are supposed to get through the C-Sec officers?" Cyclops asked.

"I am in control of the situation," Bane said slyly. "They will not dare to do anything rash."

"I'm going to need something more than that," that Batarian hissed fiercely. Bane turned and faced Cyclops. Was it Bane's visor or face that darkened?

"I gave you an order," Bane growled.

"I'm a little tired of following your orders," Cyclops challenged. Bane took a step forwards, unsure whether to shoot the insubordinate Batarian.

"If you don't want to leave, you can stay," Bane growled. "Sin, follow me." Bane turned and left with the Asari mercenary following him, leaving the Batarian raider behind. Right before Bane went through the doors; he stopped and said, "I'll leave the mechs with you as an act of good faith. It will take a squad of krogan to fight them. Good luck." The doors hissed closed behind Bane.

Wrex was still sneaking through the halls, looking for a way back to Garrus. As he turned around the corner, he was stunned to see a gang of Krogan.

"Halt!" one of the krogans roared, pointing his shotgun at Wrex, who drew his shotgun.

"What are you doing here?" Wrex growled. His question was never answered.

"Wait, I recognize you!" the Krogan said fiercely. "You're Urdnot Wrex!"

"I must be more popular than I thought," Wrex chuckled.

"You're the one who destroyed the cure for the genophage!" All the Krogans in the room stiffened. "You…You destroyed the one hope for our race."

"You could never understand my reasons," Wrex snapped. "You weren't there. You didn't know what I knew."

"I know enough. I know that you destroyed the single thing that could have saved our race. I know that you are a traitor to all Krogans, and for that, you must die!"


	8. Ch8 The Vanguard

The Vanguard

Ashley, Liara, and Tali skidded into a small room. Tali quickly stopped and locked the door behind them with her omni-tool.

"What are you doing?" Liara asked when Tali kept typing into her tool.

"Jamming the door," Tali said quickly. "Done." As soon as Tali stepped back, Ashley stepped forward and, with her pistol, shot the control panel on the door. The panel exploded in a shower of sparks. They heard heavy banging as Sovereign tried to tear the door down.

"That'll hold him," Ashley said contently.

On the other side of the door, Sovereign looked at the control panel. If he could not tear the door down he will hack it! There was a sliding noise as long, thin tentacles extended out of his fingers and stabbed the control panel. Using the geth systems he was given, Sovereign began to hack the door.

Tali rushed over to a small control panel at the side.

"We can't let Sovereign get off the ship," she said in panic. "I'm creating a feedback loop in the ships Mass Effect core."

"You're trying to blow up the ship?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah," Tali said.

Sovereign roared furiously as he retracted his tentacles. The door was too badly damaged to be hacked. There only one thing to do. Sovereign formed an orb of biotic energy in his palm.

Suddenly, the door behind Tali tore blasted and Sovereign stepped through.

"Time to go!" Ashley said, grabbing Tali by the arm and trying dragging her down the hall.

"We must get to the escape shuttles," Liara said as they, once again, sprinted down the halls.

"Look out!" Tali screamed as a piece of metal detached from the ceiling and flew at them.

Wrex stiffened as all the Krogans in front of him kept aiming their guns at his head.

"You can kill me, but it'll mean nothing," Wrex growled.

"If we kill you, we will have avenged the Krogan race," the krogan with the shotgun said.

"Then, you will have avenged nothing," Wrex said. "I did what I did for the Krogan race."

"By destroying the one thing that could save them?" the Krogan roared. "Because of you, the Krogan race might die."

"We may die, but we will die fighting!" Wrex argued. "That is why I destroyed the cure for the genophage! If that cure was not destroyed, who would have been in control of it? A turian! That Turian, Saren, would have used the cure to enslave all the Krogan! What I did may have condemned the Krogan race to their extinction, but we will die fighting! That's what I fought for! That's what Shepard died for!"

Sovereign tore open another door and stepped into the hangar bay. The Reaper looked around the room, searching for his prey. As he turned around, a massive metal plate fell from the ceiling and landed right on top of him! As Sovereign fell to the ground from the sheer weight of the metal plate, Tali, Ashley, and Liara jumped out of the shadows.

"That was easy," Ashley said, smiling.

"Too easy," Tali whimpered when she saw Sovereign begin to stand up. Before anyone could do anything, Sovereign jumped back to his feet and fired a blast of biotics straight at them! The entire room lit up as the blue biotic energy beam sliced through the air. Ashley and Tali closed their eyes, almost ready to take the lethal blast. Suddenly, Liara jumped in front of them and created a biotic shield. She was almost thrown backwards as Sovereign's biotic beam rammed into the energy barrier, but she stood firm. Liara could feel the biotic blast; hear its menacing hum as the stream pressed into the shield.

"Go!" she yelled back at Tali and Ashley.

Sovereign smiled as he continued his biotic attack. He could feel the Asari's power begin to buckle.

Liara began to gasp in desperation as she resisted Sovereign's biotic attack. If she does not hold the shield, Tali and Ashley will be killed in the blast. This thought echoed in Liara's head. She already lost Sheppard she was not ready to lose more of her friends. She may not have been able to protect Sheppard, but she can still protect Tali and Ashley. Sovereign was stunned when Liara suddenly summoned a massive biotic shockwave that sent him flying back into the wall. Sparks showered the room as the biotic blast hit the wall. Sovereign jumped back to his feet and sent a massive wave of biotic shockwave at Liara. The Asari picked dozens of random items all over the room and used them to create a wall in front of her. The wall blocked the shockwave but shattered it into pebble-sized debris in a cloud of dust. Liara sent every piece of debris flying back at Sovereign like a wall of bullets. Sovereign created a biotic shield and watched as the debris bounced harmlessly off of it. As soon as Sovereign lowered his biotic shield, Liara sent a massive biotic blast at the creature. The blast sent Sovereign flying back into the wall as the explosion rocked the room. Liara, Ashley, and Tali watched as debris from the ceiling fell upon Sovereign, burying him in a pile of rubble.

"We better get out of here," Ashley said. The three of them turned and got on an escape shuttle. As the three women ran for the shuttle, a black hand rose from the pile of debris.

Ashley was the first to reach the shuttle. She immediately ran for the cockpit as Tali and Liara got on. Tali turned around to close the door but she froze at what she saw.

"What is it?" Liara asked when she saw Tali stiffen with fear. The young Quarian watched as Sovereign rose from the pile of debris. His unseen eyes glared at Tali menacingly. As Sovereign stood up, Tali slammed the button that shut the door. She and Liara heard the engines start up.

"We're getting out of here!" Ashley yelled. As the shuttle began to rise they heard a heavy thud on the bottom of the ship. "What was that?" Liara quickly looked out one of the ship's windows and saw Sovereign firing bolts of biotic energy at them.

"Go faster, Ashley!" Liara yelled at the cockpit. There was an even louder thud that shook the ship.

"What was THAT?" Tali yelled. Liara looked back out the window.

"Sovereign's vanished!" she gasped.

"What!" Tali exclaimed, looking out the window for herself. It was true, Sovereign was no longer there.

"Hang on!" Ashley yelled as she fired up the engines. The shuttle rushed out of the ship just as it exploded. The explosion slowly died and the damaged shuttle flew off. Ashley's radio suddenly crackled to life.

"Joker here," Joker said over it. "What just happened?"

"It's a long story," Ashley said.

On the Destiny Ascension, the mechs surrounding Cyclops took aim at one of the doors.

"Get ready," Cyclops growled as he drew his gun. They all opened fire when the door burst open and Garrus, Sidonis, Anderson, and a squad of C-Sec officers came through. The room turned into a fire storm as bullets flew across from both sides. "KILL THEM!" Cyclops yelled psychotically. "KILL THEM ALL!"

There was another bang behind him and suddenly a squad of Krogan charged through with Wrex! The Councilors, Ambassadors, and Advisors all ducked to the side as bullets rained on the mechs. Cyclops watched as the mechs were torn apart from the storm of bullets. He realized that there was no way to win the fight. A squad of Krogan and C-Sec had him cornered. Then it occurred to him, there was still a way out.

Garrus put several more bullets into the face of a mech and watched it fall. The finally noticed Cyclops was still standing. Garrus would have simply put a bullet into the Batarian's head if Cyclops was not holding Ambassador Udina in front of him with a gun to the Ambassador's head.

"Hold your fire!" Udina said as Cyclops began to slowly back up.

"I think you better do what he says," Cyclops said. "You wouldn't an incident, would you?"

"Let him go," Garrus said. Cyclops scoffed when he heard this. "I will shoot you," Garrus warned.

"No, wait!" Udina yelled. "I'm sure we can negotiate this!"

"Do you really want to risk shooting your precious ambassador?" Cyclops jeered. Garrus chuckled.

"I'm not aiming at him," Garrus chuckled, then he pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang as a bullet flew out of Garrus's gun and into Cyclops's head! The Batarian fell to the ground lifeless as Udina glared at Garrus, unable to believe what the Turian just did.

"That was over the line!" Udina roared.

"You're welcome," Garrus said flatly.

"I will make sure the Council knows of this." Garrus groaned in annoyance for he knew that Udina is now going to go on ranting. "I will not let this go unpunished! You have risked the life of an ambassador without any reason!" Garrus has heard enough. His fist suddenly flew up and smacked Udina across the face. The Ambassador fell unconscious to the floor.

"Man, that felt good," Garrus chuckled.

"You should've been there when I did it," Anderson laughed. Garrus and Anderson took in that brief moment of relief. They knew that they still had to stop Bane. "So, where is Bane now?"

"I think I know," Garrus said.

Bane strolled down the hall with Sin and Snu-Cal following him. His omni-tool lit up as he approached a door at the end of the hallway. This door leads to a hangar bay that will let them escape. It was time. Everything has gone according to plan. Now Bane and his team must make their escape. As the door opened and Bane and his team stepped out they saw dozens of C-Sec officers outside. All the officers had their guns drawn. Sin and Snu-Cal froze in their tracks when they saw this. Bane simply smiled. He recognized Garrus, Anderson, Sidonis, and Wrex among the crowd of C-Sec officers. Bane could feel the eyes of unseen snipers watching them from every corner of the hangar. The bounty hunter put a finger on his omni-tool, ready to press a single button.

"You're surrounded, Bane," Garrus said over a loudspeaker. "It's over, you've lost."

"You're mistaken, Garrus," Bane said loudly. "Or, should I remind you who is still in control? I have planted a series of bombs on a number of civilian ships. One false move and I detonate them all." Garrus's jaw dropped when he heard this. He had waited for this one moment when he could finally stop Bane merely to find out that the bounty hunter had planned an escape.

"He's bluffing," Wrex said.

"We can't take that chance," Anderson said. Garrus looked at the officers then back at Bane. If he was lying they could simply take the bounty hunter out right now. If he was telling the truth then hundreds of innocent people would die. Was it worth the risk?

"Holster them!" Bane roared. Garrus looked at the radio in his hand. A single command will take Bane out or let him go. Was it worth the risk? Garrus clicked the radio on and gave his command.

"Stand down," he said. "All units, stand down." All the C-Sec officers lowered their weapons." Bane smiled as he led Sin and Snu-Cal forwards, still ready to press a button on his omni-tool. Everyone heard a loud click as a ship docked. The doors opened and Bane saw Carmine waiting for them. Garrus glared at Bane angrily as the doors closed behind the bounty hunter. The bounty hunter had escaped again.

Bane looked at Zaeed, who was sitting the side.

"Long time, no see, Zaeed," Bane said.

"Just get these cuffs off me," Zaeed grumbled.

"Before you do that, I believe that you have to fulfill your end of the deal," Bane said in a dark tone. "After all, I don't work for free."

Garrus angrily walked through the hangar as C-Sec began a final check of the ship.

"He got away," Garrus grumbled to himself.

"He's got away from everyone," Wrex said.

"And now he's free to do whatever he wants!" Garrus growled.

"Garrus!" a voice called. Garrus looked up and saw Mindor limping towards him. Garrus was stunned to see Mindor alive. "Heck of a job you did. You led the C-Sec officers against Bane and nearly got the guy. I owe you one for that"

"Bane still got away," Garrus said angrily.

"It's not the first time and I doubt it'll be the last," Mindor coughed. "I would have recommended a promotion if you were still in C-Sec."

"Told you, you shouldn't have resigned," Wrex said to Garrus.

"If there's anything I can do…"

"Actually…" Garrus said thoughtfully. "Is there a cruiser we can use?"


	9. Ch9 Unlikely Alliance

Unlikely Alliance

A small cruiser glided through space towards the damaged Odyssey. Because Ashley, Liara, and Tali had to steal the Odyssey there was no way for them to return to the Citadel without being arrested and neither the Council nor C-Sec will believe the story about Sovereign. This is why Mindor loaned Garrus, Wrex, and Sidonis a cruiser to see their friends.

Garrus sat at one of the cruiser's computers, staring at the screen. He heard Wrex's footsteps as he boarded the Odyssey to check on his friends. Garrus did not move. He just sat there, staring at his reflection. He heard more footsteps and looked up. Sidonis was walking by to board the Odyssey but stopped when he saw Garrus.

"Aren't you coming?" Sidonis asked. Garrus was silent for a moment.

"He got away," Garrus growled angrily. He clenched his fists at the memory of Bane slipping through his fingers again.

"You can't keep obsessing over that."

"I know," Garrus simply said. "I'll catch up you. Go and check on the others." Sidonis nodded then walked off. Garrus stood up and looked at the desk which was covered in files. Files about every crime Bane had committed, files about every time Bane had just slipped through Garrus's fingers.

"I'll get you one day," Garrus said.

"In time, Garrus," a familiar voice said. "All in good time." Garrus stiffened. The voice came from behind him. Garrus jumped up, grabbed his gun, turned around, and aimed the pistol at Bane's face but Bane already had his own gun pointing at Garrus's head. Bane had somehow found a way onto the cruiser. The two of them just stood there, staring at each other. Neither of them made a move.

"How'd you get here?" Garrus demanded to know.

"I have my ways," Bane said calmly. He seemed unusually calm in almost every situation. "I'm surprised you didn't expect me. You have me enough trouble back at the Destiny Ascension."

"You got away then," Garrus growled. "You won't get away this time."

"Of course!" Bane scoffed. "We could just start shooting each other and see who survives their wounds or, you can hear what I have to say." Garrus was completely stunned when he heard this. Bane came here to talk? "If I talk to you, however, my words will fall on deaf ears. Why not you call your friends?" Garrus quickly glanced at his radio that was on the table. "Go ahead," Bane said calmly. Garrus cautiously reached over and grabbed the radio.

"Ashley," Garrus said through it.

"Garrus," Ashley said back. "Where've you been?" Garrus glared suspiciously at Bane. Was this a trap? He's going to have to take that risk.

"I think you better get up here," Garrus said. He turned his radio off and continued to glare at Bane. Neither of their handguns had moved from the other's head. It only took Ashley, Wrex, and Sidonis a few moments to reach Garrus, but it felt like an eternity for him. As soon as they saw Bane they all drew their guns.

"Sidonis!" Bane said slyly. "I'm glad to see you've recovered from our brawl." Sidonis flinched at the memory. He was standing in front of the very person that tried to kidnap him and hand him over to a band of psychopaths for a sick and twisted science experiment.

"What's going on, Garrus?" Ashley asked.

"He claims he has something to say," Garrus explained. "I don't trust him."

"I came here to deliver a warning of utmost urgency," Bane said. Wrex exchanged uncertain glances with Sidonis. "Your friend Sovereign is still alive."

"Yeah, we know this," Garrus said flatly. "He got a new body and we've killed him a few hours ago." Bane shook his head.

"You're mistaken," he said. "Sovereign has survived your attempt to kill him. He is still alive."

"How do you know this?" Ashley asked suspiciously. Bane chuckled hollowly.

"Let's just say I make it a policy to know my clients in depth. I hacked into their computers and took the information I need."

"Sovereign was on a cruiser that blew up," Ashley said. "He can't be alive, unless he can survive the explosion from an overloaded Mass Effect core."

"Mark my words, he found a way to escape before the explosion," Bane said darkly.

"If he's still alive, we'll find him and kill him," Wrex growled.

"No, you won't. I know something that you don't, something that you need to know to defeat Sovereign."

"You're lying," Garrus scoffed. Ashley glanced at Garrus.

"What do you know?" Ashley asked, slightly lowering her gun. Garrus, however, kept his gun pointed at Bane. Bane loosened his grip on his handgun.

"Tell me, what is to stop you from killing me once you know what I know?" Bane asked.

"We don't need this, Ashley," Garrus protested. "Let me just shoot him."

"I took the risk of boarding this cruiser and meeting you face to face to deliver this information. We need each other. I have the information you need to stop Sovereign and you have the skills and tech to do it. The seven of us will finally end this abomination's existence."

"Seven of us?" Sidonis exclaimed in disbelief.

"I will be joining you," Bane said. "I need to ensure the success of this mission personally."

"Why are you doing this?" Ashley asked. "You don't seem like the caring type."

"I'm not," Bane chuckled. "I am doing this for personal reasons and personal reasons alone. If those Reapers show up, I'll be put out of business." Ashley looked at Wrex. "But, I ask again, what is to stop you from shooting me once you know the necessary information?"

"And, what's to stop you from shooting us once Sovereign is dead?" Ashley asked. Ashley could not see it but Bane smiled under his helmet. "We'll work together…for now."

"Ashley," Garrus protested.

"BUT…after this, everything is off."

"I expect nothing less," Bane said smoothly. Ashley glanced at Wrex and Sidonis and they three of them put their guns down. Seeing that they had lowered their weapons Bane holstered his handgun.

"Garrus," Ashley said.

"You might trust him, Ashley, but I don't," Garrus grumbled, holstering his gun.

"You said that Sovereign found a way to escape," Ashley said to Bane. "How?"

"First, I need to know the last time any of you saw Sovereign," Bane said.

"While we were in the escape shuttle," Ashley explained. She gasped when she remembered what Liara said. "Liara said Sovereign somehow disappeared."

"Now we know how he escaped. Did you dock with the science station for repairs?" Ashley nodded. "Now we know where he is."

"And, what is it that we need to know?" Garrus asked. Bane turned on one of the computers.

"Before you assaulted the ship he ordered the creation of seven more bodies of similar design."

"The bodies are useless without a mind to control them," Wrex grumbled.

"Fortunately for him, he has seven minds that are willing to have those bodies."

"The indoctrinated slaves?" Ashley asked. "We killed them."

"Sovereign will bring them back," Bane said.

"From a ship that exploded in space?"

"He has ways. With their new bodies they will protect Sovereign as he awakens the Reapers and reactivates the Citadel Relay."

On the science station, a black cloaked, hooded figure strolled through the halls. He looked at the bodies that littered the halls. Sovereign had indeed survived and had everything he needed on the station to bring his indoctrinated slaves' minds into their new bodies. Sovereign had to gather other DNA, such as a Varren's and a Thresher Maw's, to create these bodies. Doing so was easy. He was evolving and with his slaves in more advanced bodies he will be unstoppable. The creature strolled up a seven experiment tanks, each one had a different body. The new bodies did not look like Sovereign's but they had some similarities. They also had sleek, black skin but this is where the similarities ended. Some had grotesque beaks while others had human-like heads. All of these bodies were unique in their own way. A gang of hideous creatures stood in front of Sovereign. These bodies will not be as strong as Sovereign's but they will be incredibly powerful. Sovereign turned and looked at a control panel at the side. He did not even have to move. He telekinetically ordered the panel to release the bodies. The glass panel slid away and the water that suspended the bodies splashed onto the floors. The seven bodies fell to their knees. They looked around, confused about where they were. When they saw their master Sovereign, they immediately bowed. Sovereign looked at his indoctrinated slaves.

"Rise, Gore" Sovereign hissed softly.

"I live to serve you, my lord Sovereign," Gore said, slowly rising to his feet. Sovereign chuckled quietly.

"You have served the Reapers well and you have been granted another chance. Continue to serve and you shall be greatly rewarded. Together, we shall have the Reapers rise once again! We will wipe out anything that stands in our way. A new era dawns upon this galaxy."


	10. Ch10 Family Ties

Family Ties

On the Odyssey, Tali and Liara burst into the room.

"What's happening?" Tali asked as soon as she got in. As she got in the room, Bane looked at her. Garrus did not know what to think when he saw that Bane was stunned by the sight of the young Quarian.

"Tali," Bane breathed. Bane felt his jaw drop in his suit. All his life he never imagined he would ever see Tali again.

"Who are you?" Tali asked. "How do you know who I am?" Bane realized that he had suddenly become emotional. He could not be seen like this, so he just shook the entire thing off.

"You will know in time, Tali," Bane said. "All in good time." The bounty hunter began to type something into the computer. "I've uploaded the schematics for the bodies into your computers. We should find any flaws in their bodies through these."

"Tali, make sure that thing's on an isolated network," Garrus said. He was not going to let Bane plant any viruses into this ship. Tali rushed over to the computer and began checking the files.

"The file has no viruses," Tali said. "But, I'm placing it on a separate network and placing an extra firewall on our network."

"If Sovereign's still alive, I think we can assume he's going to the Citadel," Ashley said. "Joker, take us back to the Citadel," said through the radio.

"Got it, Ash," Joker said through the radio.

The Odyssey slowly turned around and, with a bang, it engaged its FTL and flew off towards the Citadel.

A small shuttle flew towards the Citadel. It was unusual for a ship this small to be traveling alone, especially after the hostage crisis they had earlier. C-Sec officers were deployed to the docking bay where the shuttle would dock.

"Keep your weapons steady, men," the officer said. They heard the click as the shuttle docked, and they waited for the doors to open. The doors finally slid open, but no one got off. The officers stared into the doorway, expecting someone to come out. Suddenly, all the officers were slammed by into the wall. Their guns fell do the floor, leaving them defenseless. The officers watched as Sovereign and his seven indoctrinated slaves got off the shuttle. The slaves now wore large cloaks and hoods that completely covered their entire body. They looked at the creatures, not realizing that they were now in the presence of a demon. Sovereign looked at the C-Sec officers. With a flick of his wrist, and with a sickening crack, the officers' necks broke like toothpicks.

Garrus was working at a weapons locker on the Odyssey. He had to make sure every weapon was ready when they encountered Sovereign. While Garrus worked Liara quietly entered the room. She did not even bother to remove her green armor since they were going to fight Sovereign soon.

"Garrus?" Liara said when she entered the room. Garrus just took a brief glance at her.

"Hey, Liara," Garrus greeted flatly.

"Garrus, are you alright?" Liara asked.

"I'm fine," Garrus growled as he threw a gun on the table. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been like this ever since we let Bane join," Liara said.

"He kills random people just for little extra money! Should've just shot him."

"It is only because of him we know Sovereign is still alive," Liara reminded Garrus.

"He's only telling us about Sovereign to protect himself," Garrus scoffed.

"I do not believe that he is as evil as you believe. Even if he is, his actions will be saving countless lives."

"And he'll begin taking innocent lives once this is all done!"

"I sense that there is more to him than you believe," Liara said thoughtfully. "Maybe if you talk to him you can get to know him better."

"I know him well enough," Garrus said firmly.

Bane was in another room on a different deck. He leaned against the wall beside the window, staring into the darkness of space. He heard the door open and watched Ashley walk in. She still wore her pink armor.

"To be honest, I'm surprised you let me join you," Bane said.

"Just because I let you join us doesn't mean I trust you," Ashley said. "It was the Commander's policy to talk to everyone on his crew."

"So you came here to talk to me?" Bane scoffed.

"No," Ashley said flatly. "I only want to know how you know Tali." Bane grew solemn when he heard Tali's name.

"How far would you go to protect someone you love?" Bane asked. Ashley just shrugged. She honestly had no idea how far she would go. People would do just about anything to protect someone they love. "Now, how far would you go to protect the daughter of the one you love?" Ashley felt her jaw drop when she heard this. "How far would you go, Ashley Williams?" Bane asked, turning to face Ashley. "Would you take the blame of a crime you never committed? Would you accept exile, knowing you'll never see your friends or family again? Worse, you'll be seen as a traitor in ALL their eyes."

"How does this relate you to Tali?" Ashley asked impatiently. Bane gave a tired sigh.

"I knew her father, Rael, and her mother, Iana. We grew up together."

"Tali told me her mother died from an airborne virus five years ago."

"Yes…this hit us pretty hard. I loved Iana and Rael was my best friend."

Ashley finally understood why Tali meant so much to Bane. Her mother and father meant a lot to him so their daughter would mean just as much. But, there was one question that has not been answered.

"Why were you exiled?" Ashley asked.

"Iana was a good person," Bane said. "But, she, like her husband, took unnecessary risks. She created a situation she had no control over."

"What happened?"

"Barely a week after birth, Tali grew sick. The doctors recognized the disease but had no antidote. Iana was not going to let her only daughter die a week after birth. She boarded one of the medical ships and stole a sample of the disease. From there, she was able to make a cure. The ailment she was dealing with is one of many known plagues. Doctors have been trying to work on cures for years. The only way to develop a cure was to hire a Batarian pirate who was known for creating biological weapons and their cures. Illegally experimenting with them, as Iana did, is dangerous. It would be the same as bringing an active geth aboard the fleet and just as dangerous."

"I'm gonna assume it didn't go well," Ashley said.

"There's a reason they say never to trust a Batarian pirate," Bane said darkly. "He used the diseases available to create a biological weapon he could have released on the fleet. He also decided to invite some of his friends over. Me and Rael stopped him and his pirate gang but the fleet already knew that something was going on. I was one of the marines working aboard the ship, so I willingly took the blame. The punishment for treason is exile."

"So, after you were exiled, you became a bounty hunter."

"Precisely," Bane hissed. "I've only done what I've needed to survive."

"You didn't have to become a criminal."

"When you gain a high stature you can either be respected or feared, and Quarians are never respected."

The intercom across the ship suddenly came on.

"We're coming up on the Citadel," Joker said.

The entire team gathered on the bridge, with their two new members, Bane and Sidonis. Liara looked around the bridge as the team gathered. The moment reminded her of the time they gathered on the bridge and prepared to land on Ilos. The only difference was that Sheppard was now gone and Bane and Sidonis were here. The team looked out the cockpit window and watched as they approached the Citadel.

"Sovereign's probably has a head start," Garrus said.

"If that is the case, then we have no time to lose," Liara said, exchanging glances with her friends.

"We won't make it in time," Sidonis said.

"We must!"

"He's right," Bane said flatly. "Even if we reach Sovereign before he reactivates the relay, we still have to fight his indoctrinated slaves."

"Can't we delay him?" Ashley asked, desperately trying to think of something.

"The power!" Tali gasped. "Sovereign needs to use the master control unit to reactive the relay. Those controls must be powered by something!"

"Probably the same power network that powers the entire Council Chambers," Wrex grumbled. "We cut the power to the Council Chambers; we cut the power to the controls."

"The controls to the Council Chamber's power grid lay a few floors below it," Garrus said. "We need to hack the system and turn it off first, then blow the rest of it. It'll slow him down, but it won't stop him. Backup generators will kick in if the power grid is not repaired after a while, and I don't know where the generators are."

"I can hack the controls," Tali said. "But, we don't have enough explosives on the ship."

"Let me worry about that," Bane chuckled. "I simply need to see your cargo bay." Garrus looked at Ashley.

"We don't have a choice," she said.

The Odyssey docked with the Citadel and the team got off.

"Joker, stay on the ship, in case something goes wrong," Ashley ordered. The door closed behind her as they all got off.

"This way," Garrus said, leading the team towards the power grid's controls.

A few decks above, Sovereign lead his indoctrinated slaves through the Citadel. They tried to avoid any crowds so they would not be delayed. He has not been inside the Citadel for some time and he now has trouble finding his way around. Sovereign looked out the window and saw Garrus and the team running through the halls.

"It appears we have visitors," Sovereign growled. "Snare." One of the indoctrinated slaves looked at his master. "Stop them."


	11. Ch11 Reckoning

Reckoning

"This way," Garrus said quietly as he led the team through the dark maintenance tunnels under the Council Chambers. Usually the Keepers would be taking care of this section but it sustained minimal damage and was not a priority. They walked past pipes and cables that had been integrated into the wall. Finally, they reached a room with a control panel sticking out of the wall.

"This is it," Garrus said. Tali went up to the control panel and began to hack it.

"This will take a while," she said as she began to work.

"I'll stay here and watch her," Garrus said. "I've already told you where to place the bomb." Bane nodded and he pulled a small contraption from behind his back. It was about the size of a small novel and looked as if it had been made from every piece of scrap possible. The team jumped when they heard a loud clang down the hall. Wrex grumbled anxiously and took out his shotgun.

"I'll check it out," he growled.

"I'm coming with you," Liara said, drawing her machine gun. Bane, Ashley, and Sidonis turned and went down a different hall to place the charge. The maintenance tunnels were like a maze. Fortunately, Bane had a map installed in his omni-tool. It did not take long before they found the location they had to place the explosive charge.

"This will only take a moment," Bane said as he kneeled down and placed the charge on the wall. He began to wire the bomb and calibrate the charge. Bane smiled at his creation. He loved chemistry. Poisons, explosives, medicine, all of these require chemistry to some degree. In his explosive charge were several chemicals. Alone they were harmless, but if they were ever mixed they would create an explosive compound so volatile that dropping it would be dangerous.

Sidonis watched Bane work quietly. Everyone was quiet. The whole room was quiet. He could hear everyone's breathing in the silence. The room was dead silent, but Sidonis could hear a quiet scuttling noise. He could hear rapid tapping, almost like someone was quickly tapping their fingers on a metal frame. Sidonis did not trust the sound. He quietly drew his handgun and snuck off to find out what it was.

"I'm finished," Bane said, standing up.

"Great," Ashley commented. "Ready, Sidonis?" She looked around but realized that the Turian had disappeared. "That's great!" Ashley said sarcastically. "Sidonis ran off!"

"Troubling," Bane said flatly. "But, we must continue the mission."

"We have to find Sidonis first," Ashley said firmly.

"You cannot let your emotions affect you," Bane said.

"I'm not!" Ashley snapped.

"You are," Bane hissed. "You're afraid you'll lose another squad member. You've lost so many. You lost Kaiden on Virmire. You lost Sheppard on the Normandy. You're afraid you'll lose another one. Do those memories still haunt you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The memories of Virmire; you heard Sheppard's voice, he had to make a decision. You wanted him to choose Kaiden but he chose you. Was there a way to change his mind? The only way he'd pick Kaiden was if he thought you died. If he thought you died he would have left you behind. Doing so would have condemned you to death from the nuke. You were afraid, as you were afraid during the attack on the Normandy."

"How do you know this?" Ashley breathed. She felt the guilt coming back, overwhelming guilt flooding her mind. She felt that she should have been the one who died back in those battles. But, at the same time, she felt grateful to be alive, and she hated herself because of that. Kaiden would still be alive if it was not for her. Sheppard would still be alive if it was not for her.

"Maybe it is your fault. Maybe if you stayed with Sheppard he'd still be alive. Maybe Kaiden would still be here if it wasn't for you."

"SHUT UP!" Ashley yelled, drawing her gun and pointing it at Bane's face. Bane simply chuckled.

"You're being affected by emotions right now," Bane said. "You must not let them affect you, Ashley, or someone can use them against you."

Down the hall, Garrus was pacing back and forth, waiting for Tali.

"You done yet?" Garrus asked, looking behind him.

"Nearly," Tali replied. "I still have one more firewall to hack through."

"Well, hurry it up, would you. This hallway gives me the creeps." Garrus looked back in front of him and froze. A tall figure wearing a black cloak and a hood head appeared in front of him. Garrus was almost stunned by the ominous figure, but he could not hesitate. In a split second, Garrus pointed his gun at the figure. He was about to fire when the figure suddenly slapped him across the room.

"What was that?" Ashley wondered out loud when she heard Garrus's yell. She and Bane both took off down the hall.

Tali whipped around when she heard Garrus yell and saw him thrown against the wall by the figure. She grabbed her handgun and began firing at the figure. The figure jerked violently as each bullet met its mark but it kept walking. Tali finally heard her handgun click. She was out of bullets. The figure grabbed the wound on its chest where several of the bullets hit. Unfortunately for Tali, she did not hurt the figure; she only made it very angry. The figure tore off its cloak and hood, revealing its true form. It was a hideous, humanoid monster with six arms! Three red eyes glowed on its head and had three mandibles. The creature screeched furiously at Tali. It began to walk slowly towards her, clicking its claws as it moved. Tali desperately tried to put another round of bullets in her handgun but she was scared. She was trembling too hard.

"What's going on?" Bane yelled as he and Ashley got in the room. "WHAT THE…!" Ashley gasped when she saw the creature. She had faced Varren, Rachni, Thresher Maw, and other creatures but she has never seen a monster such as this. When the creature saw the two of them it grabbed Garrus's unconscious body and hurtled it at them. Had this been a piece of debris they could just doge it, but this was Garrus and Bane jumped up and caught him in midair. They both fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Tali finally got her gun loaded and began pumping rounds into the creature's back! The creature screeched in pain. It turned around and grabbed Tali by the throat. It slowly lifted her off the ground, squeezing the life out of her.

Garrus finally woke up, but he was still dazed by what happened and he was still on Bane.

"Get off me, you smell Turian!" Bane growled.

Ashley saw what was happening and she began gunning the creature. The monster flinched from the bullets but it did not drop Tali. Instead, it began to create a series of webs inside its mouth. It linked the webs together and formed a net. Finally, it spat the webs at Ashley. She was thrown to the ground as the webs completely entangled her. She tried to get out of the webs and get back up, but the harder she tried the more she became entangled.

During the delay, Tali was able to take the knife out of her boot. Just as the creature turned its head, Tali jammed her knife into its head. The creature screeched and pain and dropped Tali to the ground. Seeing Tali on the ground, the creature lifted its foot, ready to crush her into the ground when, suddenly, a grappling hook wrapped around its foot. The creature was yanked off balance onto its hands and knees. It looked behind itself and saw that Bane had fired his grappling hook and that he and Garrus had pulled it to the ground. The creature began crawling forwards as Bane and Garrus tried to pull it back but it began to drag them with it.

"Pull it down!" Bane yelled when the creature climbed up on a wall. He and Bane gave a single mighty yank. The creature was confident in its strength, but it underestimated Garrus's and Bane's strength when combined with gravity.

"Look out!" Garrus yelled when the creature fell off the wall. He and Bane both dove out of the way as it crashed to the ground.

As Bane jumped away he lost his handgun. He quickly looked around and saw it lying a few feet from him. The creature saw Bane leap for his gun and spat a web at it. Bane had just laid his hands on the gun when the web met its mark, trapping both his hand and the gun to the floor. Bane pulled out a knife from his sleeve and began cutting the web.

The creature realized that Tali had rushed over to Ashley and has begun using the knife to cut her free.

"If I can just get my rifle," Ashley groaned, trying to free her gun.

"Hold still," Tali said through gritted teeth as she tried to cut the tough webs.

"LOOK OUT!" Ashley screamed. Tali looked behind her and realized the creature had stormed up to them. Before the creature could deliver a blow, a piece of debris flew out of nowhere and slammed into the creature's chest. The creature stumbled backwards as Liara, Wrex, and Sidonis appeared from behind the corner. The three of them aimed their guns but the creature spat a web at the three of them. Liara and Sidonis jumped out of the way but the web entangled itself around Wrex, throwing him to the ground.

In the Council Chamber, Sovereign and his six indoctrinated slaves marched across the platform. The master control unit appeared before them. Sovereign began typing commands into the controls. Once the geth systems in his body have control he will reactivate the mass relays and the Reapers will finally return.

Roaring, Wrex tore apart the webs like paper. He charged at the creature and slammed it against the wall. The creature climbed onto the ceiling, leapt behind the Krogan, and kicked him into the wall. As Wrex fell to the ground, power surged through the walls. Everyone looked up and the walls hummed with power.

"What's happening?" Ashley gasped as the walls hummed with power.

"Sovereign's activating the mass relay!" Tali said quickly. She finally sawed Ashley free of the webs and they both stood up.

Sovereign chuckled wickedly as he watched felt the entire relay power up. It was time he contacted the Reapers and tell them that it was time. Energy surged through Sovereign's veins as he powered the relays communications.

"It is time," he hissed menacingly.

Dark space: the empty void beyond the galaxy. The blackness seemed empty, but there was more than it appeared. A single massive blue ship emerged from the darkness. Its lights flickered as it powered up. Its eyes glowed wickedly.

"Harbinger acknowledges," a deep, cold, hollow voice echoed. "Preparing the fleet."

Bane finally cut his hand free. He began shooting at the creature from the ground.

"We must end this!" Liara said as she sent the creature flying backwards with a biotic blast.

"How?" Ashley wondered out loud. "Every time we hurt it, it heals itself!" It was true. Having Vorcha DNA, the creature healed its wounds.

"There's only one way," Tali said quietly. She leapt to feet and shot the creature straight in the chest. "HEY!" she yelled. The creature snarled viciously. Tali took off down the hall and the creature followed her.

"No!" Garrus yelled, trying to tackle the creature, but it slapped him to the side.

"Tali!" Bane yelled, racing after her.

Tali raced through the halls with the creature chasing her. She could hear its vicious snarls echo through the halls. She finally reached the room where Bane had set the explosive charge. She ran up to the charge to make sure it was still active. The explosive charge was active and ready.

"This better work," she breathed. Tali turned around and found the creature standing barely five feet away from her. Tali put her back against the wall as the creature slowly walked towards her, its fangs glistening with saliva.

"Tali!" Bane yelled as he and the team got in the room. "HOLD FIRE!" he yelled when he saw how close Tali and the creature were to the explosive charge. "Shoot it and the charge might go off."

"Blow it, Bane!" Tali yelled. "It's the only way!" More power surged through the Citadel as Sovereign began to attempt to activate the relay. Tali stared into the creatures three eyes. Though she was wearing a helmet, she could swear she felt its breath against her face.

Bane tried to remain calm and think of a solution. If they did nothing the Reapers would return. Detonating the charge would stop the Reapers' return and kill the creature but it would kill Tali. Shooting at the creature could set off the charge and approaching the creature could cause it to throw a blow and Tali and the impact might accidentally set off the volatile chemicals in the explosive charge. Finally it struck him; there was one way to save her. Bane fired his grappling hook between the creature's legs. The hook entangled itself on Tali's legs and Bane immediately began coiling the grappling hook. Tali fell to the ground she was dragged across the ground between the creature's legs. In a fraction of a second, she was dragged to safety, right at Bane's feet.

"Now!" Bane yelled as he pressed the button on the detonator. Liara created a biotic shield around the team just as the wall exploded. Flames engulfed them as Liara strained to hold the shield. The intensity weakened the shield and Liara was growing tired with every passing moment. The explosion only lasted a few seconds but it felt like an eternity to Liara.

Sovereign grinned as he began reactivating the mass relay. Suddenly, the master control unit shut off. Sovereign looked at the controls, surprised at what just happened. He kept looking at them, hoping they would come back online, but they did not. He roared in pure and utter fury.

In dark space, Harbinger felt the communications abruptly turn off.

"Communications cut," his voice echoed. "We must assume the organics are aware of our presence. I am assuming direct control of the Collector General."


	12. Ch12 Final Assault

Final Assault

The team knew it was time. No more running, no more hiding. They have hidden for long enough. It was time to put an end to the Reapers. It was time to chase them back into dark space. For too long they have held back. They were afraid what would happen in an assault. After they lost Sheppard, they were afraid of losing more. Now they realize that Sheppard was counting on them. The whole galaxy was counting on them. The fate of everything they know and love is at stake and if they ever want it to see it again they have to fight. It was time to stop Sovereign once and for all. But whatever happens, Sheppard will be fighting with them.

Sovereign was at the master control unit, waiting for it to come back online. The Keepers can repair any damage the Citadel takes. Sovereign snorted at the thought. He thought that he would have to fight C-Sec, but instead, Sheppard's crewmates detonate an explosive below him. Now C-Sec will be busier investigating the explosion rather than stop him. Everything is going smoother than he ever anticipated. There was a hum and everything came back online. Sovereign smiled wickedly; the Keepers have done their jobs. As the Reaper began to type at the controls he began to wonder about his indoctrinated slaves. They have been particularly useful. Perhaps they would make excellent Reaper themselves. Sovereign was still typing at the controls when a bullet flew out of nowhere and smashed them. Sovereign whipped around, his biotics burning with rage. He saw Garrus in the distance with a sniper rifle. That annoying Turian had once again delayed the Reapers' return.

Almost immediately after seeing Garrus, one of the indoctrinated slaves rushed at him, roaring like the monster it was. Garrus watched the creature charge towards him but he did not move. Bane suddenly jumped out of nowhere and fired his grabbling hook at the creature, which got entangled on its leg. The creature jerked backwards in surprise, letting Garrus take a second shot right at the creature's head. Bane retracted his grappling hook as Liara stepped out and blasted the creature with a biotic shockwave so powerful the creature was thrown to the wall. As it fell back to the ground loose debris fell back on top of it. One particularly large one dropped right on the creature's head, crushing its skull.

"Stop them," Sovereign growled menacingly at his slaves. There was no time to wait for the Keepers to repair the master control unit. Sovereign will have to do it himself.

Garrus, Bane, and Liara were all ready to face Sovereign. From the debris Tali, Wrex, Sidonis, and Ashley walked out. The seven of them were ready to face Sovereign and his indoctrinated slaves.

"Time to end this," Ashley said. The indoctrinated slaves charged forwards, eager to fight, already tasting the kill. The team took out their guns and began firing at the slaves, but they were faster than anything the team has ever faced before. The monsters were on them in moments. One of the creatures tore off its cloak, revealing its true form. It was a huge bat-like creature with four red eyes and a menacing beak. The bat flew at Garrus and Sidonis. Garrus jumped out of the way at the last second, but the bat's whip-like tail hooked onto Sidonis's armor and lifted him off the ground. Seeing the bat fly away with Sidonis, Garrus leap and grabbed the creature by its feet.

Another slave jumped between Ashley, Wrex, and Bane. Whatever this thing was it was faster and more agile than the other slaves. Ashley pointed her gun at the thing, but it grabbed the barrel and kicked her out of the way. Wrex pumped a round at it, but the slave dodged the blast and threw a spinning jump kick that sent Wrex flying backwards. Bane considered taking out his gun but had a better idea. He aimed his grappling hook towards the ceiling and fired. The creature lunged at Bane, but the bounty hunter was already propelling to the ceiling. He dropped onto one of the higher ledges and looked down, pulling out both his pistols. The creature growled angrily, but it was not going to let a little height stop him. The slave suddenly began leaping off pieces of debris and the walls, making its way up, thirsty for blood.

Bane began firing madly at the creature but it was too fast. Every time Bane had a shot it jumped out of the way.

"Stand still ninja wannabe!" Bane growled he continued shooting. It was too late. The creature jumped up and kicked bane right off the ledge. The Quarian bounty hunter fell below. Right before he hit the ground he felt a biotic force catch him. Bane looked and saw Liara. Bane suddenly dropped to the floor when another cloaked figure appeared behind Liara and hit her with a massive biotic blast.

Claws extended out of the wannabe's fingers. It leapt at Bane, ready to slice his prey in half. Bane was able to kick the creature in midair and it fell back to the ground.

Liara stared at her enemy in horror.

"By the goddess," she gasped. She could feel the creature's biotic powers as they pulsed through it, full of rage. The creature's biotic powers burned and crackled on its skin like fire. It was a demonic Adept made of nothing but raw biotic power.

Wrex had just gotten to his feet when a huge brute came plowing through him. He lost his shotgun and the Krogan fell to the ground again. The creature had huge gray arms, large enough to crush stone, and a pair of glowing eyes on its human head. Wrex got to his feet and looked at his opponent. Both of them were unarmed so there was only one way to fight. It was time for this creature to taste some knuckles. Wrex lunged forwards to punch the brute in the face, but it moved faster and knocked Wrex backwards. As he recovered from the blow, the brute charged forwards; but was knocked back when Wrex punch it across the face.

Tali and Ashley were staring at a lizard-like creature with a long scorpion tail. It snarled at the two of them before leaping at them. Tali and Ashley both jumped out of the way but the Leaper whipped around. Tali was not sure if a bullet would even hurt the Leaper. Would simply make it attack her instead? She did not even have time to react. The Leaper leapt at Tali, pinning her to the ground. Tali was able to grab the creature by its head as it snarled viciously snapping at Tali's face. Tali stared down the creature's throat, terrified that it might be the last thing she sees. Ashley rushed forwards and shoved the Leaper off. It wriggled on the floor for a moment before it came back to its feet. Ashley was about to shoot when but its tail lashed forwards. Ashley used her gun to block the tail and it was knocked out of her hand. Ashley jumped up at the last moment just as the Leaper lashed its tail at her again.

Garrus began pumping rounds into the Bat's belly. The gunshots echoed the room. The creature screeched in pain before it dropped Sidonis to the ground. Garrus let go and jumped down onto a higher ledge. He watched the bat as it circled the room. It suddenly swooped down at Garrus. The Turian pulled out his sniper rifle and began firing at the bat. Round after round was pumped into the Bat's chest until finally, with a screech of pain and fury, it lost control. Garrus jumped out of the way as the bat crashed onto the floor. Garrus jumped back when the Bat lunged forwards and buried its beak into the floor.

Sidonis saw what was happening from where he stood. The Bat pulled its beak out of the floor and began to flap its wings. If it takes off it will take Garrus with it. Sidonis looked around, trying to find something to use. Shooting it will not do much good. He cannot just hurt it, he has to kill it. Sidonis looked at the ceiling. It was cracked and crumbling. It will work. Sidonis aimed his gun at the ceiling above the Bat and began firing. Bullets embedded themselves into unstable ceiling. The Bat had just gotten off the ground when the ceiling suddenly fell on top of it. The creature's terrible screech was lost in the sound of the chaos of the collapsing ceiling. The creature disappeared as an entire pile of rubble buried and crushed it.

Wrex slammed his fist into the brute's face, throwing the creature back with a grunt of pain. He rushed forwards and was about blast it with another punch, but the brute smashed its fist in Wrex. Wrex yelled in pain as he was punched back against the wall behind him. The brute threw his fist at Wrex, who ducked and let it hit the wall. Wrex roared as he shoved the brute back before he landed another blow at its face. The brute roared barbarically as it punched Wrex in the stomach, sending the Krogan flying into the wall with a loud crash.

Bane dodged and ducked as the wannabe continued slashing at him, screeching savagely. He had to wait to get into position though. The wannabe slashed again, but Bane grabbed its claw and threw the creature to the ground. Almost as soon as it hit the ground the creature jumped back up and kicked Bane in the face.

Liara created another biotic field that blocked the Adept's biotic blast. Liara threw a piece of debris at the creature, but it tore the debris apart before the debris could reach its target, turning it into a cloud of smoke and dust. The Adept suddenly used its biotic powers to lift Liara up into the air. Power surged through Liara as she sent out a massive biotic pulse that threw the Adept back and let herself down. She punched the ground, sending a biotic shockwave through the ground. The ground spat sparks and biotic energy as the shockwave knocked the Adept off its feet.

"Liara, now!" Bane yelled as he kicked the wannabe back into a wall. Power surged through Liara's veins as she threw an orb of pure biotic energy at the creature. The biotic orb slammed into the creature, shoving into the wall and into the wires that surged with lethal levels of electricity. Electricity crackled with mad rage as it surged through the creature, which screeched in pain. Finally it fell limp. Its evil was now gone.

Liara was suddenly thrown back as the Adept hit her with another blast of biotic power. The Adept heard a furious yell behind it and turned around. Bane rushed forwards with something in his hand. Before the bounty hunter could reach the creature, it slammed him back with a huge wave of biotic energy. As Bane fell to the ground, he threw the object in his hand at Liara. The Asari caught it and realized that it was another explosive Bane made. The ground exploded with biotic energy as the Adept sent a massive biotic shockwave through it. Liara lunged at the creature. She had just slapped its face when it threw her off. It was only after Liara hit the ground it realized that Liara had planted the explosive on its face. The creature reached up to pull the explosive charge off, but Liara quickly formed a biotic shield to cover it. The Adept roared furiously as it did everything it could to reach the charge, but it was too late for the creature. The charge exploded on the creature's face, throwing it back and engulfing it in flames. Its charred body hit the floor with a thud.

Tali shot her handgun at the Leaper, but it leapt side to side, dodging the bullets. Ashley pulled out her handgun, ready to kill the monster. The Leaper leapt at Tali, but it did not pin her to the ground. Instead, it jumped off of her and leapt at Ashley as well. Tali was thrown to the ground and Ashley jumped out of the way as the Leaper landed in front of her. Ash immediately got to her feet and aimed her gun, but the Leaper lashed its tail like a whip and knocked Ashley's feet out from under her, knocking her to the ground. Ash rolled to the side at the last moment as the Leaper jammed the stinger on the end of its tail into the floor where her head used to be. Tali took aim at the creature again, but she realized she was out of bullets. Tali looked around, hoping to find a weapon.

"Hey!" Tali yelled at the Leaper. The creature turned and saw Tali had picked up a long broken metal pipe. The creature leapt forwards, but Tali kept it at a distance with the pipe. They both circled each other, looking for an opening to attack. The Leaper was not going to just wait for the kill. It leapt forwards, full force, at Tali. She and creature fell to the ground behind a piece of debris. Ash got to her feet and rushed to make sure her friend was safe. As Ashley looked behind the piece of debris, she saw Tali had impaled the creature with the pipe. The abomination was struggling to get the pipe out of itself, but Tali was ready to finish it off. She picked up a live wire off the floor and tossed it on the creature.

Wrex was shoved back into the wall as the creature pummeled him with punishing blows. Blow after blow was thrown until, suddenly, Wrex caught the creature's fist. He shoved it back, relentlessly returning the blows. He roared furiously as he continued beating the creature with his fists until the brute was thrown back into the wall. Wrex raised his fists again, but instead of punching at the brute, he punched the wall above the brute. Wrex backed away as the Brute took a moment to realize what was happening. It had just taken a step forwards when a huge piece of the wall came down on its legs. The brute fell over as the entire wall began to collapse on it. The creature tried to crawl away but another huge piece of debris fell on its back. The wall gave way and began to bury the creature in debris and rubble. It roared furiously as debris finally crushed the monster.

Sovereign finally fixed the master control unit, but Sheppard's team had already dealt with his indoctrinated slaves. Sovereign turned around to face Sheppard's team. They had all grabbed their guns and all aimed at the Reaper. The entire chamber filled with the sounds of gunfire as they all unleashed a hail of bullets at the Reaper. Sovereign put out his hand, almost like he was saying 'stop' and the bullets suddenly began to slow down and stopped in front of him. Useless pieces of lead and metal floated in front of the Reaper for a moment as the team gawked at the sight. Their attacks were completely useless. There were quiet clinks as Sovereign let the bullets drop to the floor.

"My turn," the demon hissed wickedly. He could already taste his victory. There was not much the team could do but raise their guns and fire again, but Sovereign was already upon them. He moved faster than any of them thought possible. The Reaper was using its biotic abilities to multiply its speed and strength. Sovereign threw Ashley back like a rag doll. He shoved Liara to the ground and she wriggled in agonizing pain like a squid out of the water. Sovereign kicked Tali and Bane back like they were buckets in his way. He grabbed Sidonis by his collar and threw the Turian into Garrus. The two Turians fell back, simple lizards in Sovereign's eyes. Wrex was just some dinosaur that belonged back in the Stone Age in Sovereign's eyes, and the Reaper hit Wrex with a punch so powerful it could have sent him back. Sheppard's team lay on the ground, just pests and vermin waiting to be squashed.

"You cannot stop the inevitable," Sovereign growled at the defeated team. Ashley grabbed her gun and jumped to her feet, but Sovereign grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up into the air. Tali jumped back up, took out the knife in her boot, and rushed forwards, ready to embed the blade in Sovereign's back. The Reaper saw Tali get back up and threw Ashley at her. Tali practically dropped the knife as Ashley landed on her, trying not to stab her friend.

Wrex got to his feet and threw a devastating punch across Sovereign's face, which twisted sideways from the blow. The Reaper twisted its head back the way it was and glared at Wrex, its unseen eyes practically boring a hole in him. Wrex just stood there, stunned that his punch did not even make Sovereign take a step backwards. Sovereign roared with rage before lifting Wrex with its biotic powers and sending the Krogan flying back into a wall.

When Sovereign saw Liara get back up, biotic power burned furiously on his skin as he lifted two huge pieces of debris into the air. Liara jumped out of the way at the last moment as Sovereign threw one of the pieces of debris at her. He then threw the other one at her. The sheer weight of the piece of debris could crush her, but Liara grabbed it with her biotics. She held the debris above her head and looked at Sovereign.

"For Sheppard," Liara said under her breathe. She threw the piece of debris back at Sovereign, but he turned it into dust with a biotic blast and fired another stream of raw biotic power at Liara. The biotic stream hit her in the stomach and sent her flying back into the wall.

Garrus leapt for his sniper rifle, but Sovereign simply used his biotic powers to shove it aside. With nothing in his hand, Garrus lunged at Sovereign, but the Reaper picked him up with its biotic powers. Bane came up behind Sovereign and hit the Reaper in the back as hard as he could, but his blow felt like a tap to the menacing creature. Sovereign used his biotics to pick Bane up and throw the bounty hunter to the ground in front of him. Bane tried to get back up, but Sovereign threw Garrus on top of him.

"We are the end of everything!" Sovereign roared. He was like a demon hyped from a victory. "We will rain fire and destruction on all you know! We will wipe out all who oppose us!" Bane groaned as he tried to get to his feet.

"You know," he groaned as he got up. "I'm not such a nice guy myself," he chuckled. It was then Sovereign realized that there was something on his back. Bane pulled out his detonator and pressed the button. Sovereign was engulfed in flames as Bane's explosive charge blasted apart the Reaper's back. Sovereign roared in pain, his biotics burning on the surface of his skin like fire. The creature tried to heal, but there was too much damage. Bane and Garrus grabbed a nearby gun and took aim.

"Time to end this!" Bane said.

"For Sheppard," Garrus agreed. They both unleashed a hail of bullets against Sovereign. The Reaper jolted with each bullet, stepping one step back with each jolt, until, finally, Sovereign stepped and fell off the edge. He plummeted onto a piece of metal twisted upwards until it was like a spire. Sovereign was impaled on the spire, plunging the tip through his evil heart. Sovereign growled weakly. It could feel the life beginning to leave its body. It almost seemed strange; Sovereign dies in the same place his indoctrinated slave died before betraying him. This was where Saren died before betraying him. As the last bit of life began to leave Sovereign, the Reaper could have sworn he heard Saren whisper,

"You've lost." Bane and Garrus watched as the Reaper's body fell limp. It was over. It was only after Sovereign fell limp Garrus and Bane realized who they were standing next to.

Garrus and Bane both turned and aimed their guns at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Both of them stood still, glaring into each other's eyes. Every nerve in Garrus's body wanted to shoot Bane, but it did not seem right. Bane had just helped them save the entire galaxy. But, he was still a criminal. Garrus's finger stroked the trigger of his gun. He did not want to shoot Bane, but he definitely did not want to let the bounty hunter go.

"So where do we go from here?" Bane asked. Garrus thought for a moment. He could not stand here forever, holding the gun at Bane's head. Garrus gave a frustrated sight.

"I'll let you go," Garrus growled. "BUT, after this, all deals are off."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Bane said with an unseen smile. Garrus reluctantly lowered his gun, and Bane did the same. The bounty hunter aimed his grappling hook at the ceiling. He propelled upwards and out of sight. Garrus did not know whether or not he wanted to see Bane ever again.


	13. Ch13 Unending

Unending

The team stood in the Presidium, surrounded by C-Sec officers. After what happened, they waited anxiously for whatever was to happen. There was a ding and the three councilors stepped out of the elevator. They stood in front of the team and looked at them. At first no one said something.

"Where's Councilor Anderson?" Ashley asked after a moment of silence. The councilors exchanged glances with each other.

"Anderson is busy with other matters," the Salarian Councilor said. Ashley shifted uncomfortably at that statement. She did not want Anderson punished because of them.

"We're here to discuss the events of the past few days," the Asari Councilor said. Everyone on the team exchanged glances with each other. They knew that they had to face the charges sooner or later.

"Your actions over the past few days have come to our attention," the Turian councilor. "We are aware of what you have done to stop Sovereign from invading the Citadel once again." Everyone was surprised by what the Councilor just said, exchanging stunned looks with each other.

"You broke many rules and regulations to stop Sovereign's return and another geth invasion of the Citadel," the Salarian Councilor continued. "You risked your name and lives to save the countless ones living here."

"No one can ever repay you for what you have done," the Turian Councilor thanked. "Twice now you have saved countless lives living on the Citadel. You have done what is necessary to protect everyone, despite the risk to you and your future, much like your Commander Sheppard."

"And while we all grieve for his death," the Asari Councilor continued. "In a way, he has never left us. His spirit rides with you, always."

"Sheppard will not be forgotten," the Salarian Councilor added. "Your actions reflect everything he stood for."

"Sheppard would be proud of each and every one of you," the Turian Councilor finished.

"Thank you, Councilors," Ashley said gratefully. "But, what about Sovereign's body? Its advancements might help us in both medical and biotic research." Ashley looked at Tali and Wrex.

"The body is a monster," Tali said. "It may hold the key to strengthening my people's immune system, but it was at too high a cost. Too many have died because of this thing. I say we destroy it." Wrex nodded with a grunt of agreement. The body might also be the cure for the genophage, but Wrex agreed. It was at too high a cost.

"The Council agrees," the Asari Councilor said. "Sovereign and the other seven genetically modified bodies are being collected as we speak."

"How do you plan on destroying it?" Garrus asked.

"Their bodies and any data relating to them will be disposed on a cargo ship on a collision with a red giant," the Turian Councilor explained. The team exchanged glances with each other.

"Thanks to you, Sovereign has been stopped once and for all," the Asari Councilor said. "And, we will make sure that this monster never returns." Sovereign and the nightmare will finally end. Ever since the beginning, Sheppard's team has always dreamed of when the nightmare would finally end. They just never imagined it would be like this.

The team met again, several minutes after the meeting with the Council. They all looked at each other, wondering about the future.

"So what happens now?" Ashley asked sadly. "Sovereign's dead. Bane's run off."

"I have to return to the Krogan homeworld, Tuchaka," Wrex said. "I need to find a way to unite my people against the genophage."

"How are you going to unite Krogan?" Garrus asked.

"They need something to believe in," Wrex explained. "Once they realize that we can still thrive and prosper despite the genophage, more will come."

"You're going to have a tough time starting a new Krogan clan," Ashley commented.

"I've already started one," Wrex replied, motioning at the group of Krogans standing behind him. Those were the same Krogan Wrex found on the Destiny Ascension.

"The Council is granting me special passage back to the Migrant Fleet," Tali said.

"You can finally go home," Ashley said.

"It's strange," Tali commented. "Now that I have the chance to return to my people, I do not wish to."

"What about you, Liara?" Wrex asked. "Going back to look at Prothean rocks?"

"No," was Liara's response. "I still do not believe Sheppard is dead, and I will keep looking for him."

"You have to let him go," Garrus said. "We all do."

"How about you, Sidonis?" Ashley asked. "What you plan on doing?"

"I don't know," Sidonis said truthfully. "After what happened I don't C-Sec wants my help anymore."

"I don't think they want any of our help anymore," Garrus added.

"I don't think the Council will let Joker fly anymore," Tali reminded. They all laughed at the thought. They were not sure, but it might be the last time they will ever laugh with each other.

"Actually, Sidonis," Garrus started. "I was thinking about heading to Omega. Maybe you'd like to come along."

"Omega?" Sidonis exclaimed in disbelief.

"What you hope on doing there?" Liara asked.

"Omega's littered with gangs and criminals," Garrus explained. "And, there's no red tape to hold me back. It's the perfect place to go."

"I could use a little more adventure," Sidonis said excitedly. "Count me in!"

"That's it?" Ashley asked. "We finally stop Sovereign and we're all splitting apart?"

"That's the way it has to be," Wrex grumbled. "One small thing brought us all together and without it we have to go our separate ways."

"Will we ever see each other again?" Tali wondered. It was only then they realized that after that day, they might never see each other again.

"I hope we do," Garrus said, even though he did not believe they would.

"It was an honor fighting alongside every one of you," Wrex said.

"I'm staying until after Sheppard's memorial. Maybe you guys like to come to." They all nodded in agreement. They all needed to say goodbye to Sheppard one last time.

The official memorial started few hours later. Every surviving crew member of the Normandy was there. They all watched and remembered their former commander. Sheppard's team watched near the front. Everything reminded them of Sheppard. They watched the twenty one gun salute. Each shot reminded them of the battles they have been through together. It also reminded them of how they will never fight those battles again. They will never be able to share any more moments with their commander. Later on, the team went up to Sheppard's empty casket to pay their final respects.

Ashley walked up to the casket and put a rose on it. She remembered how they first met. She remembered Eden Prime and how Sheppard saved her from the Geth. She remembered the laughs they had on the Normandy. She remembered talking about her family with him. Ashley will never get to do any of that again. Sheppard was more than her commander, he was her friend. Ashley has lost so many friends in battles, but Sheppard was special to her. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, almost as if it was filled with stones. She knew, as much as she hated it, she had to let him go.

"Bye, Sheppard," Ashley said. She walked past and let Garrus walk up.

Garrus put his rose on Sheppard's casket. He thought about what Sheppard said. Sometimes things needed to be done for the sake of the people. Sheppard has taught him a lot since their fight with Saren. They were a good team. Nothing could replace Sheppard of what he has done for Garrus. He just wished he got a chance to thank Sheppard for everything. They were teammates … friends … brothers in arms. Sheppard had become like a brother to Garrus. Garrus was determined to change for Sheppard. He wanted to be what Sheppard wanted him to be. Garrus felt as empty as Sheppard's casket. Whatever he does, wherever he goes, Sheppard will be with him.

"Thank you, Sheppard," Garrus whispered.

Liara walked up to the casket and placed her rose with the other two.

"I'll find you, Sheppard," she said under her breath. "I promise." Sheppard was there when no one else was. Sheppard was there to save her from the Geth. Sheppard was there to comfort her when her mother died. Sheppard has been there for her every step of the way and she never got a chance to repay him. Now, Sheppard was gone when she needed him most. Liara felt as if her heart was trying to leap out of her throat. Every heartbeat hurt. She will find him, and she will find a way to repay him for all that he has done for her.

Wrex walked up to the casket and put down the rose. It seemed strange for a Krogan to put down a rose, but Wrex did not care. Sheppard was not just some human looking for a thrill. He respected the Krogan and what they had gone through. Sheppard made sacrifices for the Krogan, sacrifices no one else would have made. Sheppard gave Wrex a purpose when he was hired to help fight Saren. Even with Sheppard dead, the commander left Wrex a purpose. Sheppard gave Wrex something to live and fight for. This was something Wrex would always be thankful for. Wrex felt nothing but rage. Death had taken a dear friend from him, but he had no way to exacting revenge on death.

Tali walked up to the casket and placed her rose. She looked at the casket through her helmet. Sheppard was not like most humans. He respected Tali and treated her like an equal. She was not just some vagrant to him. She was his friend. Tali did not feel that her words could ever properly thank him. She wondered if Sheppard ever really knew how she felt for him. Sheppard saved her from Saren's agents and he helped her complete her pilgrimage. Tali has watched him do things men could only dream of. She has watched him for so long, but she knew he would never see past the veil that covered her face. Tali felt hollow and cold for she knew she would never have another chance with Sheppard again.

"Goodbye, Sheppard," she said quietly. Tali began to walk away with her friends, but everything suddenly became dream-like. Everything was blurred. She felt like she was floating, but she kept walking like nothing was wrong. The colors began to smear over each other as everything turned black in her head. What was happening? There was only one explanation. People always say that a person's life flashes in front of their eyes when they come close to death. Tali did not know if that was true, but her life was definitely flashing in front of her eyes. Everything was pitch black. She could feel a massive weight on her chest. Where was she? Last she remembered, she was on the Presidium at Shepard's memorial; that was two years ago though. Tali has moved on, returned to the Migrant Fleet, and finished her pilgrimage. Tali's eyes flew open. She remembered now. She was on the Collector Base. The Human-Reaper, what happened to the Reaper? Destroyed. She remembered now. She and Shepard just destroyed the Human-Reaper. Sovereign's return, Sheppard's memorial, everything that had happened was a memory from two years ago. She looked up and saw Shepard rush over to her and, with a groan, lift a piece of debris off her chest. Suddenly, Shepard's radio crackled to life.

"Do you copy?" Joker said in panic over the radio as Shepard helped Tali to her feet. The young Quarian quickly exchanged glances with Garrus, who was standing a few feet away from her. "Commander! Come on, Shepard, don't leave me hanging! Do you copy?"

"I'm here, Joker," Shepard said through his radio. "Did the ground team make it?" Joker gave a sigh of relief at the sound of Shepard's voice.

"All survivors on board, we're just waiting for you," Joker replied. Shepard smiled and turned to his squad. They did it. Shepard's smile disappeared when he heard an ominous fluttering noise. He turned around and saw the thing he dreaded…Seeker Swarms. The Collectors had found them. Shepard and his squad turned and sprinted down the hall, the Seeker Swarm flying after them.

"HUMAN," Harbinger's menacing voice echoed. "YOU'VE CHANGED NOTHING. YOU'RE SPECIES HAS THE ATTENTION OF THOSE INFINATELY YOUR GREATER. THAT WHICH YOU KNOW AS REAPERS ARE YOUR SALVATION THROUGH DESTRUCTION."

Shepard and his squad just sprinted through the halls of the Collector Base, not looking behind them, not for the Seeker Swarms, and not for the mob of Collectors shooting at them. Explosions thundered the halls of the base as the squad finally saw a familiar sight…the Normandy. The massive ship appeared at the edge of the ledge in front of them, ready for pickup.

The door hissed open, revealing Joker, with a gun, who began blasting at the Collectors chasing Shepard and his squad. Debris dropped from the ceiling from the explosions as Tali and Garrus jumped onboard the ship. Joker kept shooting as a massive piece of debris crashed onto the ledge in front of the Normandy, leaving a gaping pit between the ship and Shepard. Sheppard was definitely not turning back to face the Collectors, his only hope of living was to jump the gap. If he does not make the jump this will be his last mission. He began sprinting faster and faster; he watched as the ledge drew closer. His heart raced as he raced closer to the ledge. Finally he reached the ledge. The Commander put every last ounce of energy as he sprinted up the ledge and leapt. Shepard flew across the gap, his arms flailing from the leap. With a thud, Shepard grabbed the edge of the Normandy, but was still hanging off the massive ship.

Tali covered her face as a bullet ricochet on the wall nearby. That was when he saw Shepard desperately trying to hang on. Tali looked at Shepard, then at the Collectors shooting at him, and then back at the Commander. She lost him once; she was not going to lose him again. Forgetting about the Collectors, Tali leapt out of her cover, ignoring the bullet that grazed the side of her suit and the bullet that hit her in the leg. Tali grabbed Shepard's hand helped him climb onboard the Normandy. With everyone on the ship, the door slid closed. The Normandy's engines roared to life.

Shepard and his squad followed Joker as he limped into the cockpit, where EDI's voice crackled on the intercom.

"Detonation in ten…nine…eight…"

"I get the gist of it EDI," Joker said as he jumped into the pilot's seat and took control of the ship. "Hold on!"

The Normandy zoomed out of the Collector Base, which began to go up in flames. As the Normandy flew into the distance, the base began to fall apart and explosions began to engulf the base.

Inside the Collector Base, the Collector General was at a control panel desperately trying to save his precious base.

"YOU HAVE FAILED. WE WILL FIND ANOTHER WAY." The Collector General looked up at the yellow hologram of a Reaper hip in front of him. It was closing its arms. "RELEASING CONTROL…" He watched helplessly as the hologram faded away. He could feel Harbinger's power leave his body. He reached towards the empty space where the hologram once stood, almost begging it to come back, but it was gone. The Collector General just stood there, staring, unsure of what to think. The General sadly looked at the control panel. The Human-Reaper was destroyed, Harbinger has abandoned him, and his precious base was about to be destroyed. As he turned to face an oncoming wall of fire, he knew that there was only one thing left to do…die.

With a bang, the Collector Base turned into a massive fireball that sent a shockwave out into space, disintegrating everything in its path. From the flames emerged the Normandy. The proud white ship flew out of the blast range, and, with a bang, entered FTL, flying out of the range of the explosion. The Collector Base was destroyed and the nightmare with it.

The Illusive Man sat in his chair, furiously puffing on his cigarette. There was a click and Shepard's hologram appeared in front of him.

"Shepard," the Illusive Man glowered darkly. "You're making it a habit of costing me more than time and money."

"Too many lives were lost at that base," Shepard snapped. "I'm not sorry it's gone."

"The first of many lives. The technology from that base could have secured human dominance in the galaxy, against the Reapers and beyond!"

"Human dominance?" Shepard asked suspiciously. "Or just Cerberus?" Hearing this, The Illusive man stood up.

"Strength for Cerberus is strength for every human," he said. "Cerberus is humanity. I should have known you'd choke on the hard decisions; too idealistic from the start!"

"I'm not looking for your approval!" Shepard said angrily. "Harbinger is coming, and he won't be alone. Humanity needs a leader who's looking out for them. From now on, I'm doing things my, whether you agree or not!" The Illusive Man stormed up to Shepard's hologram.

"Don't turn your back on me, Shepard!" The Illusive man fumed. "I made you; I brought you back from the dead!" Shepard was done listening to this guy.

"Joker, lose this channel," Shepard said flatly. There was a click and Shepard's hologram faded away. The Illusive Man just stood there for a moment, staring at the black plate where Shepard's hologram once stood. Then, he sat back down in his chair and continued puffing on his cigar. Jacob…Miranda…now Shepard. They all left, leaving The Illusive Man with nothing. There will always be another operative, another mission. Another day, another time, another place, no matter how hard anyone tries, Cerberus cannot be stopped, will not be stopped. The Illusive Man smiled at the thought as he stared into the blue sun.

It was over. The Collector Base has been destroyed and every one of his crew as survived and, more importantly, every member of his team survived. Shepard walked into the cargo hold, where his squad had gathered. The Normandy was riddled with holes, but shields had been put up to prevent depressurization. It looks like even the Collectors could not stand up to the Galaxy's best. Shepard saw his squad working among the piles of crates. Shepard looked at them, each of them: Legion, Jack, Garrus, Grunt, Mordin, Jacob, Miranda, Thane, Zaeed, Kasumi, Samara, they had all survived. As Shepard walked over to a gaping hole in the wall, he saw Tali emerge from the piles of debris and walk over to him.

"It's over," she said, putting her hand on Shepard's shoulders. The Commander just shook his head.

"It's not over yet," he said. "Harbinger knows that the Collectors failed, that means the Reapers know, and that means they're coming."

"Well, whatever happens, we'll be ready," Tali said optimistically. Shepard simply smiled at her.

"I know we will, Tali," Sheppard said. "And when this is over, I'll convince Legion to give you back the home world, I'll build you a house. But, whatever happens, I'll never leave you." If it was not for her helmet they would have kissed right there. Sheppard wrapped his arms around her as the two of them stared off into space. Tali was right. No matter what happens, no matter what comes, no matter what the Reapers throw at them, they will face the unknown future…together.

Dark Space: the empty void beyond the galaxy. The blackness of space made it look empty, but there was more in there than it appeared. From the darkness, a massive Reaper ship appeared, its yellow eyes gleaming wickedly, followed a huge fleet. Hundreds of thousands of ships emerged from the black void with thousands more following. The Reaper Fleet has awoken from hibernation. All life in the Galaxy is now at an end. The Cycle of Extinction shall begin again.

They're coming.


End file.
